Clause 36
Energy Bill
10:15 am
Malcolm Wicks (Minister of State (Energy), Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform; Croydon North, Labour)
Yes, that is a very substantial component, and the hon. Gentleman is right to remind us that when examining a nation’s carbon dioxide emissions, the balance between traditional manufacturing and the development of service sectors is important. That was a useful intervention—as ever. There may be a deterioration in the future, but currently, the quality is extremely high.
May I say something about the Government’s renewables strategy? I shall say it briefly, because we must understand the issue in two parts. Current Government policy will, by 2010, already deliver about £1 billion of resource to the renewables sector per annum through the renewables obligation. So, when some say that we should spend more, let us bear that figure in mind: by 2010, as I understand it, £1 billion will be spent per annum through the RO. We are providing other grants and so on, too, so it is already a substantial resource.
Our White Paper set out ambitious measures to increase renewable energy production in the UK from 2 per cent. of all energy, which is more or less the figure now, to some 5 per cent. by 2020. However, we know that we need to do much more in the light of the challenge posed by the European Union’s target of 20 per cent. for the whole European Union by 2020. We expect the amount of electricity that we produce from renewable sources to triple to about 14 per cent. by 2015 when compared with now. On electricity, we currently produce about 4 or 5 per cent., and we expect the figure to triple by 2015.
My main point is that we now recognise that we must do far more if we are to meet our share of the European Union’s 2020 target. The Commission said that our target should be 15 per cent.; I am sure that it will be there or thereabouts, but we are discussing the fine detail. It will be a very substantial effort, and current policies alone will not, in any way, enable us to hit that target, whatever it turns out to be.
We are therefore thinking again and hard about a renewables energy strategy. We will consult on it and publish a document in the summer to develop a strategy that will get us to whatever our target turns out to be. It will be very substantial. We have a raft of successful policies that are moving us ahead, but are they enough? No, they are not. Do we need to do more and do we need a new strategy? Yes, we do. In simple terms, that is our current position.