In the United Kingdom, our nuclear power plants are facing decommissioning and although alternative energy sources such as wind farms are being created, this will not be enough to service the needs of the country. We also use fossil fuels such as gas, coal and oil to produce energy to power our homes and businesses. The UK Energy Bill was drawn up by the government at the end of 2012 with aspects covering energy security, carbon emissions and cheaper tariffs. Energy production requires among other things, skilled engineers to keep things working efficiently and that is where we come in.
Listening to parts of the debate over the Energy Bill currently in committee stage before Parliament, you could be forgiven for thinking the UK is dragging its feet over climate change issues. In particular, debate is coalescing around the issue of whether we need a 2030 decarbonisation target for the power sector in order to ‘send a message to investors’ that we are serious about clean energy.
Green lobby groups and opposition MPs are adamant. Without such an immediate commitment, no one will risk investing in the renewable energy supply chain in the UK. The government will forfeit its claim to being ‘the greenest government ever.’ Jobs and investment will go elsewhere. To them, it is a no brainer. I believe things are a little more complicated than that.
Firstly, the 2030 campaigners like to give the impression that not having such a target in the Energy Bill represents some sort of u-turn. It does not. The coalition government has never committed to such a target, nor did the previous Labour government.
Secondly, we hear many dire warnings that investment will flee elsewhere without a clear UK commitment to decarbonise the power sector by 2030. A casual observer might ask which other country, in the EU or elsewhere, has such a 2030 target and will therefore attract that investment? The answer is – none. A UK 2030 target that some argue is so essential would be the first and only such target anywhere in the world. Click here to continue