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Security of Supply

I supported the closure because the technology was not ready and the economic argument was not convincing. However, if the Secretary of State thinks that it is a viable option now, I am sure that he will open it up again especially for the hon. Gentleman. As I said, the Opposition called for ages on the Government to hold a comprehensive review. We repeated that call for more than six months, and it was echoed by the director general of the Department’s own energy group. However, we have the review at last, and we look forward to doing our bit and making as good a contribution as possible. My objective this afternoon is to present what we consider to be the key issues in energy security that we hope will be addressed by the energy review. I shall be interested to hear from the Minister for Energy when he thinks that the review will be concluded. That will give us an idea of the full timetable, given that the Secretary of State helpfully announced the beginning of the review earlier this afternoon. The first issue is energy efficiency. Unnecessary energy consumption is a burden on the environment, costs the UK more than needs to be the case, and makes us more vulnerable than other countries. The Opposition’s second concern has to do with our dependence on imports. Our supplies of fuel should come from the most diverse possible range of sources, and we should favour liberalised markets over those that might be subject to irrational Government diktats. The third issue is renewable energy and the diversity of technology. The energy supplies that we need should come from a diverse pool of technologies, so that there is sufficient flexibility to adapt and adjust to changes in individual markets. That is a medium to long-term aim, but we need to get moving on it as soon as possible. Let us start with energy efficiency. Energy efficiency encompasses everything from the insulation in our lofts to the decentralisation of our energy supply. We need a proper programme for efficiency that reduces our dependence on energy, and in our homes we need to be doing more with less, which reduces demand and thus CO2 emissions. This is not just a marginal issue: it is essential for alleviating fuel poverty. We need to become more efficient in the way that we use energy and we need to lose less in the way that we transmit it. On 30 January last year, the Environmental Audit Committee reported that the Government"““is failing to incorporate its own rhetoric on sustainable development into housing policy””." That is especially true with regard to new builds from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Without dramatic reforms, housing could account for 55 per cent. of the UK’s carbon emissions by 2050. That is almost double today’s amount. We are alarmed to see that, yet again, the ODPM has committed itself to a course of action aimed at increasing the number of new houses built, without considering sufficiently the wider implications for sustainability or energy efficiency. We therefore hope that the energy review will look further into encouraging and improving energy efficiency, which is especially important given the rise in CO2 emissions in each of the past two years. Measures to do with better insulation and hybrid cars could be a start, but more radical options are becoming available that offer even greater benefits. For example, as I have mentioned, the current centralised infrastructure of energy production and distribution is an area for further study. An astonishing 65 per cent. of the energy available from the fossil fuels burnt never reaches the homes and businesses that pay the bills. Some is lost in the inefficient generation process, but yet more is lost in transmitting electricity over great distances. Decentralised models, including combined heat and power systems, substantially reduce that loss. If the Government were serious about climate change and energy security, they would look seriously at decentralised models. Instead of following the good examples that have been set, the Government are setting one of the worst examples imaginable by failing to convert their talk about microgeneration into a serious policy to achieve it.