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The government has set bold targets in its energy white paper for the use of renewable energy sources - but we still lag behind our European counterparts. Demetrios Matheou reports
A green future?
Having been on the brink of a major war since 9/11, the world had apparently
lost sight of another disaster awaiting the planet – the environmental
one.
Not so Tony Blair. On a day dubbed Green Monday, Blair set out the government’s
renewed determination to combat energy and environmental issues, not least
the potentially cataclysmic problem of global warming.
By doing so, Blair all-but publicly chastised his partner-in-arms, President
Bush, whose anti-environment stance (again, it’s all about oil) had
limited the ambitions of the Kyoto protocol on climate control.
“Look around the world today and it has to be said the quality of
leadership on sustainable development elsewhere falls a little short of
inspirational,” Blair said, “especially in some of the world’s
most powerful nations.”
He challenged Europe to make amends – particularly by coming into
line with the UK’s new target of a 60% reduction in greenhouse gas
emissions by 2050.
Blair’s speech coincided with the launch of the government’s
energy white paper.
Published by the department of trade and industry, this has in part
been prompted by the projection that Britain will be a net importer of
energy by 2010 - for the first time since the industrial revolution.
The paper’s main points are:
- there should be a 60% reduction in carbon dioxide omissions in the UK by 2050
- 20% of British energy should be derived from renewable sources - such
as wind and wave energy - by 2020
- no more nuclear power stations are to be built at present
- new measures are to be introduced to improve energy efficiency
The paper throws down the gauntlet to green energy companies to prove
they can meet a growing share of Britain’s energy needs.
Said energy minister Brian Wilson: “If renewables and energy efficiency
can prove themselves over the next five years, there will be no need for
nuclear power stations.
“We have talked of wind and wave power for decades, but there’s
very little to show for it,” he added. “It’s time to get
away from the perpetual R&D mentality and get the technology into
widespread commercial use.”
Such comments subtly leave the door open for nuclear power. While the
white paper does not foresee replacing the existing 16 power stations
when they expire, it states: "We do not rule out the possibility
that at some point in the future new nuclear build might be necessary
if we are to meet our carbon targets."
But equally important are the issues that the white paper fails to address,
including aircraft carbon emissions - which are a rapidly rising proportion
of total emissions – and land transport, which in the UK will soon
emit more CO2 than electricity generation.
Welcoming the ambitions of the white paper, UNISON’s head of business
and environment Mike Jeram said:
“We must not forget that private motor cars are also a major contributor
to CO2. Government must do more to encourage the use of public transport
- which is more energy efficient - and healthy and sustainable alternatives
to the car like cycling and walking.”
Jeram believes that public sector bodies also need to play their part.
“Local authorities, the NHS and other public sector bodies are major
users of energy and producers of CO2. They should be given financial resources
to help them install the most energy efficient technology.”
Meanwhile, the UK is in danger of falling behind other European countries
in developing green technology , Jeram suggests.
“Unfortunately, because we have not pushed renewables as much as
we could have in the past, countries such as Denmark – who do not
have as much gas and coal – have built up the manufacturing capability;
so if we aren’t careful we will end up importing all the technology,”
he warns.
As for those UNISON members who work in the utilities industries, he
is more sanguine. “A green future doesn’t mean a threat to jobs.
But people may find that over time their jobs will be reconfigured.
“There is a whole industry waiting to be exploited to do with advising customers on energy efficiency and conservation, and on how to get the best out of those new gas and electricity technologies.”
Contact the article's author Demetrios Matheou
Pollution-heavy
power stations like
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