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Dept of Trade and Industry

Answer

Phil Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her estimate is of the number of wind turbines which will be needed in the British Isles to meet the Kyoto commitments on sustainable energy. [77863] Mr. Wilson: The policies and measures in the Government's climate change programme should deliver our Kyoto emissions commitment. The climate change programme includes policies and measures impacting on all sectors of the economy and society, which seek to reduce emissions attributable both to the production of energy, and to its consumption. Measures to reduce emissions attributable to energy production include the Renewables Obligation, which places an obligation on electricity suppliers to source a rising proportion of their total sales from eligible renewable sources. Our target is that 10 per cent. of licensed electricity supplies will be generated from eligible renewable sources by 2010. Wind power will make an important contribution to this target, as will other renewable sources of electricity. Achieving this target could result in an estimated saving of around 2.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions by 2010. This expansion of renewable energy is however just one part of the Government's wider climate change programme. Other initiatives include for example the climate change levy on conventional fuels and the UK emissions trading scheme which affect the business sector. In the domestic sector, the new Energy Efficiency Commitment places new obligations on gas and electricity suppliers to make energy efficiency improvements; there are also new requirements on local authorities to make proposals to achieve energy efficiency gains; and the £600 million home energy efficiency scheme provides grants for home insulation and heating improvements to improve energy savings. On transport, there is the EU-level agreements with the car manufacturers to improve fuel efficiency in new cars, backed by changes in UK vehicle taxation through company car tax and vehicle excise duty, together with the infrastructure investment in the 10-year plan to tackle congestion and pollution. As you may know, energy efficiency was one of the key areas highlighted in the PIU review of energy policy. The Government support an increasing role for energy efficiency and is formulating a response to be published in the White Paper around the turn of the year. The role of renewables will also be included in the White Paper.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

77863; 391 c978-9W;391 c988-9W

Session

2001-02

Subjects

Climate change Sustainable development Renewable energy Wind power Climate Change Convention Turbines

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk