British “Negawatts”?

While not being part of the British Coalition Government’s Energy Bill, an amendment was suggested which seems to have ruffled feathers in Parliament. It was a proposed amendment to make it law that by 2020, there should be a massive reduction in the amount of electricity used.  103 terawatt-hours, rising to 154 terawatt-hours by 2030. At present the usage averages at 378 terawatt-hours a year. So by 2020 British people should be using a quarter less electricity.

WindAndCoal 2501 British Negawatts?

Commentators and pro-fossil lobbyists have seized upon this, claiming that any attempts to make this law would do irreparable damage to the economy. Foam-mouthed Mr. Outraged of Chipping-Sodbury types have said that this proposal for “Electricity Demand Reduction”, dubbed “Negawatts”,  is an outrageous attack on individual freedom and is just because Members of Parliament are desperate to “infest” England Wales and Scotland with wind turbines on the land and off the coastline.

When all the furor has subsided, we ought to take a cool, calm look at  Electricity Demand Reduction. Surely the idea behind trying to reduce electricity demand is not to make us all switch of heating and lights at 8 pm every night and go to bed early to save electricity! It is an attempt to make us turn to more efficient use of electricity. To switch to AA and AAA-rated white goods and electrical appliances. To switch to LED lights instead of incandescent or mercuric fluorescent bulbs. To insulate the loft to stop wasting electricity by heating the roof space.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with encouraging us all to use less electricity per se, but I do think it should not be a matter of law but encouragement, perhaps with financial incentives. And perhaps if there was room for such a proposal in the Energy Bill it should be specific in saying what sort of electricity consumption should be reduced: Energy produced by non-renewable methods only. Renewable energy, such as that created from wind farms, both onshore and offshore should be exempt.  Further developments are awaited as the Energy Bill goes through the British Parliament.