Further written evidence reported to the House
Energy Bill
10:40 am
Malcolm Wicks: Can I add that I am very keen that we develop a better interface—if I can put it that way—around the issues of energy and climate change, and of the agricultural community and the farming community? Yesterday I had the opportunity to address the National Farmers Union. Whether I was the first Energy Minister to do that, I do not know—it may be that I was, but I think that that shows the importance of that agenda now. As farming changes in all sorts of ways in the 21st century, I think that energy crops and aerobic digestion—as featured in “The Archers” at the moment, apparently—and all these things are going to become more and more important: renewable energy technologies, distributed energy and combined heat and power. I said to the NFU that I wanted to have regular meetings with it to discuss this relatively new agenda, which is important.