By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Feb. 24 -- The UK has proposed a strategy to reduce carbon emissions over the next 50 years though a major expansion of renewable energy and energy efficiency, UK Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt said Monday.
"Our country needs a new energy policy," Hewitt said. "Climate change is a clear and present danger. Without urgent action to reduce carbon emissions, the Earth's temperature is currently set to rise faster than at any time in the last 10,000 years."
The strategy was outlined in a government white paper "Our Energy Future—Creating a Low Carbon Economy." The proposal suggested four goals for UK energy policy:
-- To work towards cutting emissions of carbon dioxide by 60% by 2050.
-- To maintain the reliability of energy supplies.
-- To promote competitive energy markets in the UK and beyond.
-- To ensure that every home is adequately and affordably heated.
The white paper outlined how a cut of 15-25 million tonnes of carbon by 2020 could be achieved, necessary to ensure firm progress towards 60% reductions by 2050.
Logistics
Hewitt said that the cuts would be achieved through a combination of measures including doubling the share of electricity from renewables by 2020 compared with the existing 2010 target of 10%.
She also called for total investments in renewable energy of as much as $550 million during the next 4 years.
In addition, Hewitt advocated the reform of planning rules to unblock hurdles to renewable energy, and she called for a new carbon trading system effective around 2005 that will give energy suppliers and consumers incentives to switch to cleaner energy.
Efforts will include working with the European Union and car manufacturers to improve vehicle efficiency, she said.
A report will be produced each year by a cross government policy network, based in the Department of Trade and Industry, showing the progress toward cutting carbon emissions and other measures in the white paper, she said in a news release.
Nuclear
Within the context of the need to cut carbon emissions, the white paper set out the government's policy on nuclear power.
The priority is for renewables and energy efficiency, the paper's recommendations said, adding that nuclear power is a source of carbon-free electricity but current economics make it an unattractive option. There also are important issues of nuclear waste to be resolved, the white paper said.
Although it does not contain proposals for building nuclear power stations, the proposal did not rule out the possibility that new nuclear plants might be built sometime in the future. A public consultation would be undertaken before any decision was made to proceed with the building of nuclear power plants.
