A report by a committee of MPs said that the United Kingdom and Welsh Assembly governments should develop a more balanced energy mix which fully recognized the continuing importance of Welsh coal to the British electricity supply industry.
Source: Energy in Wales: Follow-up inquiry, First Report (Session 2007-08), HC 177, House of Commons Welsh Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Dec
A report examined the different ways in which policy could help microgeneration (producing energy at a domestic level) to develop.
Source: Generating the Future: An analysis of policy interventions to achieve widespread microgeneration penetration, Energy Saving Trust (0845 727 7200)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Dec
An article said that the four central objectives of Labour's energy policy – 'cheap' energy, the relief of fuel poverty, a major reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, and energy security through a wide diversity of primary fuel supplies – were mutually inconsistent.
Source: Ian Rutledge, 'New Labour, energy policy and "competitive markets"', Cambridge Journal of Economics, Volume 31 Number 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Nov
The government announced (in the Queen's Speech) plans to proceed with an Energy Bill. The Bill was designed to promote the reduction of carbon emissions by increasing energy efficiency – particularly through the use of energy from renewable sources. It would strengthen the regulatory framework for private sector investment in carbon capture and storage. It would also strengthen the renewables obligation. In the event that private sector investment in new nuclear power stations were to go ahead (following consultation), the Bill would create a framework to protect the taxpayer by requiring owners to cover decommissioning and waste-management costs.
Source: Her Majesty's Most Gracious Speech to Both Houses of Parliament, 6 November 2007, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Queens Speech | Downing Street press release | Greenpeace press release | CBI press release | Liberal Democrats press release | BBC report
Date: 2007-Nov
A study found that small-scale renewable energy projects not only helped to fight climate change but also brought local communities together, revitalized local economies, and helped to alleviate poverty.
Source: Gordon Walker, Patrick Devine Wright and Bob Evans, Community Energy Initiatives: Embedding sustainable technology at a local level, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: Report | ESRC press release
Date: 2007-Jul
The new Prime Minster (Gordon Brown MP) announced that the Department of Trade and Industry would be disbanded. Most of its functions would be transferred to a new Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 28 June 2007, columns 36-40WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | Downing Street press release | DBERR press release | FT report
Date: 2007-Jun
A report (from a taskforce chaired by Lord Patten) said that United Kingdom energy policy was a 'hotchpotch' of measures which was unlikely to deliver the government?s objectives on climate change or security of supply.
Source: Energy, Politics, and Poverty: A strategy for energy security, climate change and development assistance, High-Level Task Force on UK Energy Security/Climate Change and Development Assistance c/o Department of Politics and International Relations/University of Oxford (01865 278700)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Jun
A government policy review paper examined how the United Kingdom should secure its energy supplies and protect the environment. Tackling climate change was 'the biggest challenge of our times'.
Source: Building on Progress: Energy and Environment, Strategy Unit/Cabinet Office (020 7276 1881)
Links: Report | Downing Street press release
Date: 2007-Jun
A think-tank report said that the fundamental purpose of any energy policy should be to ensure the provision of reliable and affordable energy supplies. Economic, scientific, and engineering constraints meant that the large-scale use of renewables in order to displace existing patterns of supply was not realistic.
Source: Michael Laughton, Energy Policy: The feedback from reality, Centre for Policy Studies (020 7222 4488)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-May
A think-tank report said that 'clean' coal (coal with the carbon removed using new technologies) should play an important part in the United Kingdom?s energy mix.
Source: Tony Lodge, Clean Coal: A clean, secure and affordable alternative, Centre for Policy Studies (020 7222 4488)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-May
The government published a White Paper on energy policy. It set out a long-term framework for action to address the two 'big challenges' of climate change and maintaining stable and affordable energy supply in an increasingly unstable world. There was a pressing need for investment in new low-carbon sources, including nuclear: the government would consult on the role that new nuclear power stations could play in cutting emissions and diversifying energy supply.
Source: Meeting the Energy Challenge: A White Paper on Energy, Cm 7124, Department of Trade and Industry, TSO (0870 600 5522) | The Role of Nuclear Power In a Low Carbon UK Economy: Consultation Document, Department of Trade and Industry (0870 150 2500)
Links: White Paper | Consultation document | Hansard | DTI press release | Scottish Executive press release | Conservative Party press release | SDC press release | Energywatch press release | CPRE press release | Friends of the Earth press release | Greenpeace press release | Royal Society press release | LGIU press release | TUC press release | CBI press release | BCC press release | NCC press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | FT report | BBC report | Regeneration & Renewal report (1) | Regeneration & Renewal report (2)
Date: 2007-May
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on 'local' or 'distributed' energy generation. There were many options for producing energy near to the point at which it was used, and greater use of distributed energy would help to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Source: Local Energy - Turning Consumers into Producers: Government response to the Committee?s First Report of Session 2006?07, Second Special Report (Session 2006-07), HC 494, House of Commons Trade and Industry Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2007-May
A think-tank report said that providing every home with a free energy audit could lead to each household on average saving up to £230 per year on their energy bills, and a total carbon dioxide saving of over 30 million tonnes.
Source: Simon Retallack and Tim Lawrence with Matthew Lockwood, Positive Energy: Harnessing people power to prevent climate change, Institute for Public Policy Research (020 7470 6100)
Links: Summary | IPPR press release
Date: 2007-May
The government began consultation on proposals to relax the planning rules for home-owners who wanted to install green energy devices such as solar panels and wind turbines. The new rules would apply only to 'microgeneration' devices with little or no impact on neighbouring homes.
Source: Permitted Development Rights for Householder Microgeneration, Department for Communities and Local Government (0870 1226 236)
Links: Consultation document | DCLG press release | RTPI press release
Date: 2007-Apr
The High Court ruled that the consultation process in 2006 on the government's nuclear power plans had been 'misleading', 'seriously flawed' and 'procedurally unfair'. The government said that it would not appeal: instead it would postpone publication of its White Paper on energy, and consult again.
Source: Greenpeace Ltd, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, High Court 15 February 2007 | House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 22 February 2007, columns 63-64WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of judgement | DTI press release | Hansard | Greenpeace press release | SDC press release | RTPI press release | CBI press release | BBC report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | FT report
Date: 2007-Feb
A report by a committee of MPs said that government policy could, and should, do much more to encourage the development and take-up by consumers of local energy (or 'microgeneration').
Source: Local Energy - Turning Consumers into Producers, First Report (Session 2006-07), HC 257, House of Commons Trade and Industry Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Jan
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on future energy supply. It said that the risk of having unserved electricity demand was unlikely to became substantively higher until around 2015. Future government measures on renewables and nuclear power, and on streamlining planning, should help ensure the market brought forward new investment in a timely manner.
Source: Government Response to the Committee's Sixth Report of Session 2005?06: Keeping the Lights On: Nuclear renewables and climate change, Second Special Report (Session 2006-07), HC 196, House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2007-Jan
A background paper prepared for the government's mid-term policy review examined trends in environmental and energy policy.
Source: Policy Review: Energy and the Environment, Strategy Unit/Cabinet Office (020 7276 1881)
Links: Background paper
Date: 2007-Jan
The energy industry regulator suggested an alternative approach to providing state financial support for renewable electricity generation. It said that the existing mechanism was a very expensive way of reducing carbon emissions compared to other alternatives.
Source: Reform of the Renewables Obligation 2006, Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (0116 277 2617)
Links: Report | Ofgem press release | Guardian report | FT report
Date: 2007-Jan