Vote 2010: policy guide - energy
Updated on 06 April 2010
The country's energy security is an issue the winning party have have to address after the general election, as is the requirement to decarbonise the economy, as Julian Rush writes.
Say energy to most people - and most politicians - and they'll talk to you about electricity. In fact, electricity generation, using gas, coal, nuclear and renewables, accounts for only a third of Britain's energy use, with another third taken by heating homes and offices and by industrial processes, mainly using gas, and another third by transport, almost exclusively from oil.
Of the three sectors, only electricity generation offers any opportunity for immediate serious change, which is why it has become the cornerstone of all of the parties' energy policies. Heating and transport are far more intractable, though all parties recognise a move towards electric vehicles is beginning to happen.
Energy-saving and energy-efficiency measures still remain largely under-exploited even though they are the easiest and by far the cheapest to implement.
Energy security is an issue politicians will have to address in the next parliament.
From 2015, a significant number of the older coal-fired power stations in Britain have to close to meet EU pollution directives and nuclear power stations too are closing. Policies to plug the so-called "energy gap" created by those closures will be central to the next administration.
All three main parties agree Britain needs to decarbonise its economy to meet the climate change targets that are now enshrined in law by the climate change act.
All three, too, recognise that energy policy is central to achieving those targets. None, though, have really recognised the all-encompassing nature of a truly joined-up energy policy, though there are signs they are getting there.
And how the next government squares the inevitable rise in the cost of energy with concerns over fuel poverty means energy is a policy area to watch in the next parliament.
L A B O U R
Labour was slow to get to grips with the need for renewable energy sources like wind and solar, but it now has a suite of energy policies in place, and for the election is offering more of the same. It proposes to continue the support for renewable industries through the system of renewable obligation certificates (ROCs). Offshore wind and wave and tidal power are now being encouraged too.
Labour policy is to encourage the private sector to build new nuclear power stations. Officially, there will be no subsidy for nuclear as it is deemed to be a mature technology compared with renewables. But Labour, as yet, has no detailed policy for the disposal of nuclear waste, either from the existing stations or the new ones.
Labour says it wants Britain to be a world leader in carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology but their actions in this area have been slow and tentative, with a competition for development funds stalled and delayed, largely as a result of the controversy over the proposed construction of a new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth in Kent.
For individuals, Labour is promising that 25 per cent of Britain's homes will have an eco-makeover by 2020, to encourage greater domestic energy efficiency with solutions like the installation of better insulation. To raise voters' awareness of how much electricity they're using, Labour promises a smart meter in every home by 2020.
Labour has recently introduced a domestic feed-in tariff, whereby individuals who generate their own electricity, for example from solar panels, can profit from the sale of unused electricity to the grid. A similar scheme for heat, that will encourage greater use of combined heat andpPower (CHP) units, is proposed from 2011.
C O N S E R V A T I V E
The Conservatives too recognise the need to move electricity generation away from fossil fuels and they too support offshore wind and the newer marine technologies of wave and tidal power. The Tories will continue to use the existing ROC system to make them competitive and they say they will create a network of large-scale marine energy parks.
They too want to encourage CCS and the private sector construction of new nuclear power stations and they will only allow new coal-fired power stations to be built if they have CCS fitted so their emissions are the same as a modern gas-fired power plant.
Central to Tory energy policy is the ambition for a more decentralised energy system, where many smaller units, from homes and businesses, provide power rather than relying completely on large, old-fashioned power stations.
They point to a transformation of the electricity networks, with a "smart grid" and smart meters, that can accommodate a huge increase in renewables.
They are proposing to develop a series of biogas generators, which digest organic waste from farms or from towns and businesses to produce gas that can be used to generate electricity or be piped directly into the gas network for cooking and heating.
They have a similar vision for heating, proposing the introduction of district heating networks, common in Europe and Scandinavia, where homes are heated from a local CHP unit that also supplies electricity.
To combat fuel poverty, the Conservatives say they will require energy companies to offer a special "social tariff" and order the Competition Commission to carry out a swift investigation into the relationship between wholesale and retail energy prices.
For home-owners, the Conservatives are offering a "green deal" of up to £6,500 for improved insulation.
L I B E R A L D E M O C R A T
Liberal Democrat energy policy is markedly different from the two main parties in that it is the only party that is opposed to the construction of new nuclear power stations.
It has the potential to be a stumbling block should they hold the balance of power in a hung parliament.
The Lib Dems believe Britain's future electricity needs can be fully met by a combination of a greater effort to promote energy efficiency and by greater use of renewables and offshore wind in particular. They too want to see CCS expanded and wave and tidal power brought online, saying there will be a "massive investment" in renewables under the Lib Dems.
The Liberal Democrats also include the idea of a "smart grid" in their energy policy. In particular, their energy efficiency policies include the extension of energy labelling.
Liberal Democrats will require energy companies to simplify the complicated tangle of different tariffs, saying they will introduce a fair social tariff system for disadvantaged families.
They are offering a "warm homes" package and the faster introduction of smart meters into every home – by 2015. They promise to immediately raise the requirements of building regulations to ensure that all new homes are energy efficient and they will offer "green loans" to encourage people to invest in home energy efficiency and micro-renewables.
