Post by cerridwen on Jul 13, 2009 8:13:18 GMT
Energy policy 'too wind focused'
bbcnews.co.uk
The CBI says the government targets wind power too much
The UK must invest more in nuclear and clean coal energy and put less emphasis on wind power if it wants a secure low-carbon future, business leaders say.
The CBI says government energy policy is "disjointed" and it is urging a "more balanced" energy mix.
The current approach means the UK might miss climate change targets, it added.
The government said putting in place a balanced mix of renewables, new nuclear and cleaner fossil fuels was at the heart of its energy policy.
But the CBI is calling for more action in its report "Decision Time".
"The government's disjointed approach is deterring the private sector investment needed to get our energy system up to scratch, bolster security and cut emissions," said CBI deputy director general John Cridland.
"While we have generous subsidies for wind power, we urgently need the national planning statements needed to build new nuclear plants.
"If we carry on like this we will end up putting too many of our energy eggs in one basket."
Energy war
The BBC's environment analyst Roger Harrabin says the CBI's report was timed to influence the government's Energy White Paper, due this week.
It is the latest salvo in the business war between nuclear, coal and wind, he says.
He adds that a recent study by the consultants Poyry suggested that wind power could become so dominant in the UK that it leaves nuclear and carbon capture and storage (CCS) coal in competition with each other instead of holding the dominant position they have enjoyed since the 1950s.
The CBI wants the government to:
• reduce the percentage of wind power expected by 2020 under the Renewables Strategy later this week, to encourage investment in other low-carbon energy sources.
• speed up the planning process for energy supplies
• accelerate investment in the grid
• improve energy efficiency in the electricity, heating and transport sectors, including offering financial sweeteners for consumers choosing more efficient products.
'No surprise'
A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said: "We know that big investments need certainty, and we're on track with our promise to remove costly unnecessary barriers to new nuclear, such as the planning reforms already in train."
Andrew Warren, director of the Association for the Conservation of Energy and formerly a member of the CBI's energy policy committee, says the increase in wind power is threatening to the big power generators who he says dominate the committee.
"This document is no surprise. EDF have been lobbying very hard for less obligations on renewables , saying it will distract from nuclear," he said.
"This is precisely what Patricia Hewitt [the former trade and industry secretary] warned would happen when she published the 'no-new-nukes' 2003 energy white paper."