Moderator: Peak Moderation
Given all the warnings from industry insiders, the IEA and other expert bodies and individuals, it is clear there is a real risk of early peaks in global oil, gas, coal and uranium production; when is the government going to commission and publish its own analysis of these risks and consequences of early peaking, together with an appraisal of the available mitigation options?
The decommissioning schedule of the nuclear fleet will create a cliff-like decline in generating capacity, falling some 6GW by the end of the next decade. Given that it is not plausible for new nuclear build to come online soon enough to plug the gap, what will?
As indigenous oil, gas, coal and nuclear production decline the UK will rely more on imports. Can you tell us the impact on the balance of payments this dramatic switch represents? How many billions will imported energy cost the country in 2020 compared with our net exporter status a decade ago?
Moderator says: John Hutton, Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, will be here answering questions on energy and the world economy from 13:30 GMT on Monday 28 January 2008.
Moderator says: We've got lots of questions in and the Minister has just arrived, so we'll be starting in the next minute or so.
John says: Hi everyone. Thanks for all your questions. I will do my best to answer as many as possible.
Charlotte Revitt: Why was the decision taken to build so many offshore wind turbines, rather than build on shore wind turbines? It is well publicised that offshore wind farms are more expensive and complex to build and make operational.
John replies: We've got to open up as many possibiities as possible. There are obvious limits on development options for onshore wind but obviously we have got to look carefully at all of the environmental considerations before we proceed with any offshore project. I think we can strike the right balance.
Paul Kinnersley: What subsidy or other financial guarantees will companies building nuclear power stations receive?
John replies: There won't be any subsidies for new nuclear power stations. We have got to establish an effective price for carbon because CO2 is a pollutant and hopefully this will incentivise a range of low carbon technologies like nuclear and wind power for example.
Lucy H: Nuclear Power is the BEST solution for significantly cutting carbon emissions. Yes or No?
John replies: Lucy H - it is one of the lowest cost solutions so we have to keep it in play if we are going to succeed in tackling the challenge of climate change over the long term.
Karen: Why have you given the green light for new nuclear power stations when they will at best only deliver a 4 per cent cut in carbon dioxide emissions sometime after 2021?
John replies: Hi Karen. I think the 4% figure is based on an assumption about the numbers of new nuclear power stations, so I think that it is a mistake to think that it could only be 4%. Even if it was only 4%, this is the equivalent of taking a third of the cars off the roads in the UK. I thnk that is quite significant. I think it is also a mistake to argue that becasue nuclear on its own can't solve the problem of climate change, we shouldn't keep open the option of nuclear power for the future. I think it can help. That's why we should keep our minds open on the subject.
Emma Brown: How does the Government justify giving the go-ahead for new nuclear power stations as the main solution to solving the energy crisis, when the first will come online in 2021 at the very earliest, long after the predicted 'energy gap' is due around 2015?
John replies: We don't say it's the main solution. I think we need to pursue a number of options including an expansion in renewables and the development of carbon capture and storage.
I think you are probably not right in saying the first nuclear power station would not come online before 2021. I think it will be significantly sooner than that. In any event, the challenge of climate change doesn't stop in 2020. We have got to look up to 2050 and beyond and it's here I think that nuclear could make a very significant contribution. There will be sufficient investment in new power generation between now and 2020 to avoid any problems about an "energy gap".
There are currently 6 gw under construction and another 30 gw at various stages of development. This will be enough to cover our future energy requirements.
Energy markets outlook: October 2007 (http://www.berr.gov.uk/energy/energymar ... 41839.html)
Odette Millar: Can you tell me what measures are being taken to safely dispose of Nuclear Waste and how will decommissioning costs affect the price of nuclear fuel? p.s. I'm in favour of the Nuclear Option in principle.
John replies: We have already set out our proposals for the long term storage of nuclear waste. There will be a combination of interim storage on site and ultimately disposal in a deep geological repository. This is the strategy being pursued in many other countries. The operators of new nuclear power stations will have to set aside sufficient resources during the lifetime of the plant to meet the costs of decommissioning and waste disposal. This should not impact on electricity prices as the wholesale price of electricity is actually set by the cost of electricity generated from fossil fuels.
Alexander Gordon: Dear Mr Hutton, Why can you not look at capping those who put up Gas & Electricity bills as it is very hard to pay those bills even when we get ?200 towards our bills and also the Water bills are going up as well, you should look at them as well as other kinds of power.
Yours sincerely, Mr A D Gordon
John replies: Hi Alexander. I recognise the problem you have described and the anxiety that higher energy prices cause. We are working with the energy companies themselves to try and provide more help for those who are finding it hard to pay their bills including taking advantage of your right to switch to a cheaper provider. We are going to keep this under very careful review but I don't think capping prices is the answer as they reflect rising world prices for oil and gas.
lauren: hello, i'm 17 and i am concerned about the current rise in energy prices, do you believe that this will be will become a bigger problem in the future?
John replies: Hello Lauren. I think it is very likely that energy prices will stay high for the future. For those on low or fixed incomes we do provide additional help so energy bills can be paid, for example the winter fuel allowance. We also provide other assistance, for example enabling people to insulate their homes to make them more energy efficient, and in so doing, cutting their bills.
More on insulating and heating your home efficiently
(http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Environment ... /DG_064374)
Duncan Guest: We are currently seeing increases in energy prices from the energy industry. Do these high prices work in the governments favour by putting downward pressure on consumption? If so, to what extent do government policies aim to maintain/increase energy prices as a mechanism for reducing energy consumption and thus carbon emissions?
John replies: Hi Duncan. Energy pricies are a reflection of market conditions. OFGEM, the energy regulator, has a mandate to ensure the energy market in the UK works effectively and delivers affordable energy for UK consumers. Carbon pricing under the Emmissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will help us incentivise low carbon forms of power generation, and alongside the measures we are taking on energy efficiency, should help us meet our EU and international greenhouse gas emmission reduction targets. Energy consumers have a crucial role to play. New technology such as Smart metres I think can also help empower consumers make the right choices on energy consumption, so government needs to give consumers the practical means to make a difference. That's what we are trying to do.
David Rendle: Dear Minister, My household electricity is supplied by "Good Energy" who produce electricity that is 100% sourced from renewables (wind turbines, solar, etc). That said, my bills have just risen by 13.2% due to the increase in the price of "wholesale electricity". Do you have
any plans to make electricity produced from 100% renewables cheaper than that produced by fossil fuels, and so encourage more people to use them? Surely this would be in line with the target to reduce our country's emissions by 20% by 2020? Yours sincerely, David Rendle (Maidenhead)
John replies: Hello David, thanks for your question. Energy produced from renewable sources tends to be more expensive than other forms of power generation such as gas for example. We are trying to incentivise more renewable energy through the Renewables Obligation (http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/sources/re ... 15630.html) which requires electricity companies to secure a proportion of their energy from renewable sources such as wind. We are also looking at what more we can do to encourage microgeneration. Our new EU targets will require us to do a lot more in the years ahead in this area, but I am not sure we will get to a point where renewable electricity prices can somehow be made "lower" than other sources. That's not how our energy market works.
Tim Thomas: There is much talk of power generation but virtually nothing about cutting back on energy use through economy and thrift. Surely this is the other half of the equation.
John replies: Hi Tim. We are actually doing quite a lot to improve energy efficiency and thereby reduce unnecessary demand for electricity. We have already set out measures to increase energy efficiency by a third by 2020 and this will form an integral part of our energy policy for the future.
Find out how to save energy in your home (http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Environment ... /DG_064371)
Jo Homan: How can we achieve emissions reductions of 80% by 2050, as suggested by Gordon Brown, if new coal-fired power stations are approved?
John replies: Hi Jo. We have asked the Climate Change Committee for advice on what our 2050 target should be. At present we think we will need to achieve at least a 60% reduction. We have already set out a whole series of measures to improve energy efficiency and shift towards low carbon forms of power generation, but we recognise that we will have to do a lot more.
This year we will be announcing more details of a major carbon capture and storage demonstration project. CCS technology will play an important part in national and international efforts to reduce carbon in the atmosphere. The UK project will be one of the first in the world to demonstrate, on a commercial scale, the potential of this important technology. Next year I will be setting out further proposals for how we can meet the new EU targets on renewable energy and greenhouse gas emissions. We need to be ambitious, every day counts.
salman: hi, i want to ask if you have will take in to account ppl's wishes in relation to new energy sites or will the govt just put those energy sites in places where they think there wont be problems because no says so. thanks, salman
John replies: Hello Salman. There will obviously be proper local consultation on any new power stations. It is important people have their say but what the country can't afford are ten-year long inquiries. The science of climate change means we cannot afford the luxury of this kind of long drawn out procedure.
Kerenza Dale-Marks: You said recently on Channel 4 News that "we've got to solve the problem of climate change and energy security with the technology that is currently available". As carbon capture and storage has not been proven commercially, how can any new coal-fired power stations be justified?
John replies: Thanks for the question. I am not going to comment on individual planning applications at this point in time because that would pre-empt due process. I think that it is right that we proceed with a commercial scale demonstration project for CCS, and we have focussed the competition on technology that could be retrofitted to existing coal fired power stations, both in the UK and internationally. China is commissioning a new coal fired power station every week so we have got to find a way to deal with this challenge.
Jeff Rice: A lot of wind power is currently trapped in planning due to wind NIMBYism. Are you going to stand up to the NIMBYs?
John replies: Hello Jeff. If we are serious about climate change we have all got to recognise that there will need to be changes in the way we generate power in the UK. Some of these changes will have an impact on the landscape, this is inevitable. I think people have to make a choice. Are we willing to make the change that is necessary or not? We are reforming the planning laws to try and speed up and streamline the existing failing system of development consents. I think this is going to be essential if we are to make the changes necessary in the time frame we are all working to.
Flora McMorrin: I want to put solar PV on my roof but I'll probably be dead by the time it pays back. Why can't you include a feed in tariff in the energy bill to make it cost effective for me and others to get one installed?
John replies: Hi Flora. We are currently looking at what more we can do to support microgeneration and I think we will be setting out our proposals over the next few months. We should keep an open mind on all of this and try and find the best way to stimulate microgenerated energy in a cost effective way.
Adam Richards: Hi John, i'm 19. Why has your department always seemed so hostile to renewable energy and favoured nuclear power, as demonstrated in leaked documents?
John replies: Hello Adam. It took us 14 years to generate the first gw of wind energy. It took us 20 months to generate the second. So I don't think it can be said that we are hostile to renewable energy. Over the next eight years we are going to treble the amount of electricity we generate from renewable sources and we are looking at athe feasibility of a barrage across the Severn Estuary which could generate as much as 5% of the UK's electricity requirements. Nuclear power can play a complementary role in helping us shift towards becoming a low carbon economy but I think there needs to be a balance.
Read about the Energy Bill (http://www.berr.gov.uk/energy/bill/page40931.html)
John says: Thanks for all the questions. We have got some difficult choices and decisions to make. My priority is to make the transition to becoming a low carbon economy as quickly and as cost effectively as possible. Iam sure the debate will continue. Lets always keep an open mind on how we can best achieve this.
Moderator says: Thanks for all your questions, and we're sorry we didn't have time to answer any more. Keep an eye on pm.gov.uk for more webchats in the coming weeks.
My question wasn't asked either. It was about the lack of anything to do with geothermal. I'm a bit puzzled as to why this has such a low profile. Even on PowerSwitch the last post on the Geothermal section of the forum was six months ago.Adam1 wrote:Neither of our questions (above) were raised; nor any others that dealt with depletion. Peak oil simply does not exist in the BERR's (DTI's) universe.
I looked into geothermal a while back ... it seems less easy than one might assume.biffvernon wrote:My question wasn't asked either. It was about the lack of anything to do with geothermal. I'm a bit puzzled as to why this has such a low profile. Even on PowerSwitch the last post on the Geothermal section of the forum was six months ago.Adam1 wrote:Neither of our questions (above) were raised; nor any others that dealt with depletion. Peak oil simply does not exist in the BERR's (DTI's) universe.
That at least does appear to have been answered, albeit as a byproduct to the response to somebody else's question:clv101 wrote:I sent these two:
The decommissioning schedule of the nuclear fleet will create a cliff-like decline in generating capacity, falling some 6GW by the end of the next decade. Given that it is not plausible for new nuclear build to come online soon enough to plug the gap, what will?
Emma Brown: How does the Government justify giving the go-ahead for new nuclear power stations as the main solution to solving the energy crisis, when the first will come online in 2021 at the very earliest, long after the predicted 'energy gap' is due around 2015?
John replies: We don't say it's the main solution. I think we need to pursue a number of options including an expansion in renewables and the development of carbon capture and storage.
I think you are probably not right in saying the first nuclear power station would not come online before 2021. I think it will be significantly sooner than that. In any event, the challenge of climate change doesn't stop in 2020. We have got to look up to 2050 and beyond and it's here I think that nuclear could make a very significant contribution. There will be sufficient investment in new power generation between now and 2020 to avoid any problems about an "energy gap".
There are currently 6 gw under construction and another 30 gw at various stages of development. This will be enough to cover our future energy requirements.
Energy markets outlook: October 2007 (http://www.berr.gov.uk/energy/energymar ... 41839.html)
