The UK’s influential advisory body- the Committee on Climate Change has issued a report outlining why investing in low-carbon technologies will, over the longer term, be more cost effective than gas. The Committee’s Chair, David Kennedy, said that the sooner the UK makes large investments in low-carbon generation, including both onshore and off shore wind energy, along with nuclear power and energy from waste, the cheaper it will be.
This will be a blow for those Tory Members of Parliament who have been clamouring for an end to onshore wind farms and reductions in renewable subsidies. The so-called “Dash for Gas” MPs would prefer the UK to import tens of billions of pounds worth of fuel each year and massively expand shale gas drilling.
They would prefer to see a new “dash for gas” that would require the UK to massively expand shale gas drilling and import tens of billions of pounds worth of fuel each year as North Sea reserves run down. They point to lower gas prices in the US that have resulted from the aggressive pursuit of shale resources.
The report is nicely timed in its publication, because it’s less than two weeks before UK MPs vote on the UK’s Energy Bill. This Bill will be central to the UK’s energy strategy for the future. The CCC’s report is unusual in that it looks out to far beyond 2030 in its forecasting, arguing that investment now in low-carbon energy will pay dividends by the next decade and beyond. This is in stark contrast to gas which suffers from unpredictable and large price fluctuations.
In the UK’s Independent Newspaper, the Energy Secretary, Ed Davey, in bullish mood, said:
“In the long term, low-carbon could be a much cheaper path to go. Our opponents don’t want to admit that we really do care about people’s bills, but actually I’m the consumer’s champion here. The real reason for high energy bills is high global gas prices. I can’t control global gas prices but I can put a cushion between the high global gas price that people face and the bills consumers pay, in part by supporting low-carbon power generation”.
A spokesperson for the Department for Energy & Climate Change concurred with the Report’s conclusions and said that the Government had recently trebled government support for low-carbon technologies to £7.6bn out to 2020 and in the Energy Bill there are clauses to incentivise £110bn of investment in clean energy infrastructure. This has the potential to support 250,000 jobs in the energy sector. In July, the Department plans to set out the strike prices offered to investors within their electricity market reform delivery plan.
Unfortunately the UK Coalition Government have been giving mixed messages in respect of renewable energy in the past. With this Report there’s an opportunity to pin their green colours to the mast and go forward confidently with a low-carbon electricity generation plan for the future that will give the renewable industry the confidence it needs and attract serious investment. Stable financial support and a long-term decarbonisation target will be key to giving renewable businesses the clarity they need.
A final word from Leila Deen, the Greenpeace energy campaigner, who said:
“Every MP in British politics should take heed of this report, because in two weeks’ time they’ll be making the biggest changes to the UK’s energy system in a generation when they vote on the energy bill. The Committee on Climate Change’s advice is clear – a clean energy system is better for business and better for consumers.”
