Rt Hon Alistair Darling MP
Currie & Balerno News (Energy Review)
We’re all becoming more aware of the need to take care of our environment. Throughout the constituency I see examples of this happening. Last month was the first anniversary of the Council’s kerbside recycling scheme. Householders have responded admirably with Edinburgh’s recycling rate now exceeding 20% and indications are this will rise to 25% by the end of the year. The Water of Leith Conservation Trust announced that volunteers and community groups pulled out all the stops to clean the river on 51 occasions in the last year. Recycling projects like “Bits and Bobs” on Broomhouse Road collect scrap materials and pass these on to community groups, schools and artists for art and play.
I am publishing the Government’s Energy Review this month. Reduction in the carbon emissions which affect our environment and ensuring secure supplies of energy at an affordable price drive this review. Cutting demand for energy is essential.
Today we have secure and mainly reliable energy supplies from coal, gas and nuclear as well as a leap forward in renewable generation. However our self-sufficiency in oil and gas will reduce, by 2020 we will be dependent on foreign imports of gas, mostly from the Middle East, Africa and Russia. On top of that a third of power stations may need replaced within 20 years. But first of all it is necessary to look at reducing demand for gas and electricity.
A quarter of the UK’s annual carbon emissions come from energy used to heat and light homes. Over 10m homes in the UK have insufficient insulation. This means 40% of heat lost in the average home disappears through the roof and walls and is enough to heat 3m homes for a year. This makes the average home responsible for more carbon dioxide than the average car, annually.
We’re on track to meet our international obligations to cut carbon dioxide emissions although we need to do more to meet our own UK target.
The Government has provided £500m for development of renewable and low carbon technology. We’re one of only eight countries around the world to have installed enough wind capacity to power 1m homes with electricity for a year. Wave and tidal energy needs further development. Already, we’ve improved the consents process for demonstration projects and put £50m into the Marine Renewables Fund.
We need to do more to increase awareness of the true costs to consumers of their energy use. Real-time information on energy consumed by appliances and the cost are available and we’re looking at how this can be extended. We’re also looking at bills so they include information on how consumers are using energy and advice on how to make reductions.
I know it’s easy to talk green – the hard part is to do something about it. That means facing up to difficult decisions and looking at all the options available to us.
