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Energy: White Paper

My Lords, I welcome this debate on the future of energy, including nuclear energy. I also welcome the opening speech by the Minister, with whom I have a connection: I declare my interest as a professor at University College, a college that he has been very active in supporting. I began my career in energy physics and technology with the old Central Electricity Generating Board in the 1960s as it installed many of the nuclear and fossil-fuel power stations that are still operating, as the Minister reminded us. I am also on the advisory board of EDF Energy. I have had various discussions about nuclear energy issues with officials and colleagues in several countries, with very different perspectives. I very much hope that as the Minister travels around the world selling UK products and ideas he will also bring back many of the ideas from other countries, which I feel are rather lacking in both the documents that we have seen today. It seems to me that our role in this House is to consider, as well as short-term issues, very long-term issues affecting the UK. My first debate in this House was on whether the UK would last at all as the North Sea rose and parts of East Anglia were flooded and disappeared. Today, we have to consider our very long-term energy requirements. For example, in one document, reference is made to the possibility of uranium running out after 85 years. My colleagues in the United States have been talking about energy policy for the next 1,000 years and are considering all the options. I believe that we need this wider and longer-term perspective. I pay tribute to the noble Earl, Lord Liverpool, for thinking over the long term. The policies that the White Paper advocates on energy conservation, renewable energy and increased efficiency of existing plant are all commendable. We should consider not only energy conservation, but also not increasing our energy use. The Japanese Parliament and its ministries are now allowing the temperature to rise to 27 degrees Celsius in their buildings. They are taking off their ties and are wearing a new style of clothes. If we were having a really hot summer and were sitting in here in our ties with the air conditioning running, that would not be a very good role model. The GLA is extremely concerned about the increasing use of air conditioning in London. In fact, far from saving energy, many buildings in Britain now use more energy than before. The total energy reduction required—as the Stern report and, earlier, the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution concluded—is of the order of 60 per cent. In some estimates it is more. This will require a wide range of options, as was emphasised by the Socolow report of Princeton. All over the world, scientists and engineers are increasing and improving new technologies; for example, conventional fossil-fuel power stations, to which we referred, are now running sometimes at 52 per cent, which is a great improvement. Even in China some of the most advanced power stations are being used, as well as, regrettably, large numbers of very inefficient power stations. As the report emphasises, improving fossil-fuel technology is vital. The Minister remarked on the important role of individuals and local communities. Local communities have been very pioneering in exploring ways of introducing energy saving, using new technologies and galvanising people. I hope that the Minister will talk to his colleagues in Defra, as they steer the Climate Change Bill through this House, to remind them that local authorities have a big role. Currently, local authorities are not mentioned in that Bill. I have heard from little spies in Defra that that was a bit of a mistake, so I hope that he will rectify that. On long-term energy, it is widely believed that the world will run out of oil and gas in perhaps 30 years. We may run out of coal in 300 years. As I mentioned, US Department of Energy colleagues are thinking on those timescales and longer. India, China and Russia are also thinking on these very long times. They are thinking not only of conventional nuclear, but of more advanced systems using, for example, fusion and fission, reprocessing uranium and using the vast reserves of thorium, which could also be used in more advanced nuclear technologies. I disagree slightly with my noble friend Lord O’Neill of Clackmannan, who implied that nuclear issues, including safety, may be rather dull and that we need to employ people. I think, far from that, that this is one of the most exciting areas of physics. Advanced physics, on which we have had debates in this House previously, may be able to clean up nuclear waste and to reprocess and transmute the elements. We may end up not having to store material in the ground for 10,000 or 500,000 years; it may be dealt with in 100 years. Study groups in which I have participated at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna have illustrated that. I regret that these have not been explained to politicians in this country. There is a high level of ignorance about the possible technologies that could be available. As other speakers have commented, nuclear power could well be an important part of the energy security of this country, but it is essential that UK politicians, the public and the scientific community are encouraged to understand and to look into these wider possible technologies and sciences. The White Paper and the nuclear paper are not as broad as they should be, so I very much hope that, as we move forward during this year, more documentation and decisions and a wider international context will be given to us. For example, the American Institute of Physics has much longer and wider-ranging debates than anything we have had in this country. The Minister mentioned that nuclear power accounts for 18 per cent of our electricity, although the figure is 80 per cent in France. I hope that he and other Ministers will meet groups around the UK to consult on and explain about nuclear power. I addressed a packed meeting on climate change near Hartlepool, where we have a nuclear power station, and many officials and local leaders were in the audience. It was interesting that, in this area familiar with the practical benefits of nuclear power, there was unanimous support for nuclear. The same has been found in France. Wherever there are nuclear power stations, there is great support from the communities in those areas. Provided that the Minister moves out of NW1 or NW3, I am sure that he will find a sensible view. The Minister may also need to go beyond that and proselytise in the sensible party opposite, the Conservative Party, because the Liberal Democrats, the SNP and Plaid Cymru seem to be completely fixed in their antagonistic view towards nuclear power. By combining forces, we may get some sensible decisions, which are vital for this country.