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Conservative Energy Green Paper Analysis
23/03/2010
“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”
The Conservative Party has published the latest in a series of Green Papers in the run-up to the general election, widely assumed to be on May 6th.
A Green Paper provides a party with the ‘flesh on the bones’ of a manifesto commitment and should form the basis of any future legislation.
One of the striking elements of this Paper is the simplification of the energy system the Conservatives are looking to roll out. The major problems identified are the looming blackouts, slated by the Tories to commence (using current models) in 2017. By 2025, according to this Green Paper, only one functioning nuclear power station will be generating energy in 2025 which means that over 22 gigawatts of capacity will have been lost.
So what are the Tory solutions? Essentially the Conservatives want to:
• Commit to nuclear power
• Reform the Climate Change Levy to produce a ‘price floor’ for carbon
• Abolish the IPC but retain their expertise and set up a separate unit within the Planning
Inspectorate
• Accelerate carbon capture and storage for clean coal energy
• Promote renewable energy
• Build an ‘Energy Internet’ to create a smart grid to regulate and manage demand
• Offer every household a ‘Green Deal’ of up to £6,500 to insulate and enhance the heating
efficiency of domestic properties
• Reduce reliance on oil to operate transport in the UK
• Create a ‘Green Investment Bank’
The elements of the above action points that really stand out have got to be point one and three. Nuclear power is a very provocative source of energy, one that can stir passions from both sides. The fact that the IPC will be abolished isn’t a total surprise; the party has been mooting it for a while. The proposal to relocate their competences to the Planning Inspectorate is a little surprising, but this should ensure a reasonably healthy period of deliberation before a decisive decision can be made.
From Curtin&Co’s perspective it was very nice to read the Conservative commitment to renewable energy. Working with renewable providers we have been struck with the difficulty in presenting such schemes to local people sceptical about their benefits. If this Green Paper has done nothing else it has highlighted the looming energy crisis the next generation will have to contend with. Practical solutions are proposed and could, quite conceivably, present very positive ways of getting to grips with the key energy problems this country faces and remove our (increasing) reliance on gas.
We started this analysis with a quote from about 150 years ago by a chief of a Native American tribe. His words are far more relevant today than they were then. The only way we will know whether this Green Paper has been successful is if we can still turn on our lights in 2020 without fear of nothing happening.
The Conservative Party has published the latest in a series of Green Papers in the run-up to the general election, widely assumed to be on May 6th.
A Green Paper provides a party with the ‘flesh on the bones’ of a manifesto commitment and should form the basis of any future legislation.
One of the striking elements of this Paper is the simplification of the energy system the Conservatives are looking to roll out. The major problems identified are the looming blackouts, slated by the Tories to commence (using current models) in 2017. By 2025, according to this Green Paper, only one functioning nuclear power station will be generating energy in 2025 which means that over 22 gigawatts of capacity will have been lost.
So what are the Tory solutions? Essentially the Conservatives want to:
• Commit to nuclear power
• Reform the Climate Change Levy to produce a ‘price floor’ for carbon
• Abolish the IPC but retain their expertise and set up a separate unit within the Planning
Inspectorate
• Accelerate carbon capture and storage for clean coal energy
• Promote renewable energy
• Build an ‘Energy Internet’ to create a smart grid to regulate and manage demand
• Offer every household a ‘Green Deal’ of up to £6,500 to insulate and enhance the heating
efficiency of domestic properties
• Reduce reliance on oil to operate transport in the UK
• Create a ‘Green Investment Bank’
The elements of the above action points that really stand out have got to be point one and three. Nuclear power is a very provocative source of energy, one that can stir passions from both sides. The fact that the IPC will be abolished isn’t a total surprise; the party has been mooting it for a while. The proposal to relocate their competences to the Planning Inspectorate is a little surprising, but this should ensure a reasonably healthy period of deliberation before a decisive decision can be made.
From Curtin&Co’s perspective it was very nice to read the Conservative commitment to renewable energy. Working with renewable providers we have been struck with the difficulty in presenting such schemes to local people sceptical about their benefits. If this Green Paper has done nothing else it has highlighted the looming energy crisis the next generation will have to contend with. Practical solutions are proposed and could, quite conceivably, present very positive ways of getting to grips with the key energy problems this country faces and remove our (increasing) reliance on gas.
We started this analysis with a quote from about 150 years ago by a chief of a Native American tribe. His words are far more relevant today than they were then. The only way we will know whether this Green Paper has been successful is if we can still turn on our lights in 2020 without fear of nothing happening.
Source: Admin
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