Rt Hon Alistair Darling MP
GORGIE DALRY GAZETTE (Energy Review / Environment)
The Government’s Energy Review will be published this summer. Reduction in carbon emissions and ensuring secure supplies of energy at an affordable price drive this review. It’s considering the role of all aspects of energy supply.
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 (40%) 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 annually for more carbon dioxide than the average car.
On the environment, we’re on track to meet our Kyoto target for 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.
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.
