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Energy White Paper

My Lords, this White Paper is about the nuclear issue, as the noble Baroness, Lady Wilcox, has pointed out. I thank the Government. The White Paper seems to follow our questions and concerns about nuclear. If I were someone who was going to develop a nuclear power station, I would not take a great deal of comfort from the White Paper. As the policy of these Benches is against nuclear, I think that that is a step forward. As the noble Baroness also pointed out, the Scottish National Party has said that it will not build nuclear power stations in Scotland. Do the Government see nuclear power as a local or devolved issue? The raising of the nuclear issue is not greatly surprising because the White Paper pointed out that the Government will be changing the planning requirements for nuclear power stations. But will the issue of rising sea levels be taken into account in these great consultation documents? If the scientists’ predictions on climate change are correct and sea levels rise on the magnitude discussed, we will not be building nuclear power stations; we will be building nuclear submarines. I was disappointed by way in which the White Paper deals with carbon storage and capture. As I have read the document only today, on its publication, I shall pick out only one point, on page 175, at paragraph 5.4.18. It states that the UK’s first commercial-scale demonstration of carbon storage and capture will be online in the next decade. That is the demonstrator model. If we are relying on carbon storage and capture to make a significant impact on the 80 per cent of our electricity projected to be produced from gas and coal, should the Government not be putting much more effort not only into a demonstrator model but into retrofitting already operating power stations with that technology over the next 10 to 15 years? The White Paper gives the impression that we need to build these power stations because there will be exponential growth in the amount of energy used. However, it also refers to getting rid of stand-by, which would reduce the amount of energy we need by 10 per cent. That shows the importance of education and working with industry to reduce the amount of energy used. I hope that the Minister will take this opportunity to say how unfortunate it is that HIPs were delayed yesterday because of the energy performance certificates. On the DCLG’s own figures, the delay will result in the release of about 250,000 extra tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The White Paper mentions renewables. I hope that the Government will look again at renewables. A pitiful sum has been spent on developing wave and tidal technology, technology which is far more reliable in producing a constant flow of electricity. The amount spent on that, compared with the amount spent on nuclear decommissioning, is laughable. I hope that the Government will also start looking at new technologies such as energy storage, which the department has frequently overlooked. The White Paper also raises the issue of smart metering. I very much hope that the Government will bring forward a debate, in their own time, to talk about which type of smart metering we are considering. We could end up with a basic smart meter that provides very little information, or with smart meters that could be fitted in every house and provide massive amounts of information on electricity prices and when to use electricity and on the environmental benefits of using it at different times. Progress on that depends on the Government setting out clear guidelines to the industry. I have one question but could not find the answer to it in the document because I am not a speed reader. It is about the renewables obligation. Of course we support renewal. However, do the Government intend to add nuclear power to the obligation? Defining nuclear power as a renewable power source would be an interesting step. It will be very difficult for any power company to take a great deal of solace from the White Paper on how to go about building a new power station, be it nuclear or any other type. Our position is that nuclear power stations would be a mistake, but I welcome the White Paper.