Written evidence to be reported to the House
Energy Bill
12:00 pm
Tom Burke: My point about carbon sequestration and storage is about what you have to do if you want to achieve the goal of a stable climate while delivering energy security for growth, which another Committee member referred to. I think you have got to do that to meet the development needs. Then, because of the political dynamics—not because we could not work out theoretical solutions—you are going to have to solve the coal problem. I think it is going to be expensive. I think we have to face up to that being expensive. I suspect we will find that, as things go on—partly in respect of what Benet mentioned about trajectories—the renewables piece is going to become somewhat easier. I have only said about 40-odd per cent.
Last year, the addition to the world’s nuclear capacity was about 2 GW. However, the addition to the world’s photovoltaic capacity, which is regarded as one of the less attractive options, was 2.6 GW. The addition of wind to the global mix was about 15 GW. What I do not like about nuclear is that I do not think that, in practice, for lots of practical judgements, it will actually deliver. The nuclear industry has, for 50 years of my lifetime, always been promising jam tomorrow and, by and large, it has not delivered on that. It would be foolish to make the same mistake when what is at stake now is not just our comfort but the prosperity and security of everybody, including not just the 60 million Britons, but the other 6 billion people that we share the planet with.