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Energy Bill

My Lords, I too welcome this Bill but it seems only yesterday that we had before us another Energy Bill. It is shattering how quickly four years can pass by. I must declare an interest as a farmer and as a member of the Renewable Energy Association. I was a little perturbed by the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Truscott, about biofuels. The price of wheat in real terms was higher back in 1995. A small percentage of 0.6 per cent of the worldwide wheat stocks went into the biofuels sector. I hope that allays some of his fears. I have only four topics to cover. First, the ROs must be truly sustainable. We must avoid getting into a muddle like we are with the renewable transport fuel obligation, as mentioned by the noble Duke, particularly with government scientists coming out with conflicting reports. We all agree that cutting down the rainforests of South America to grow sugar, making that into ethanol and then shipping it half way round the world is pure madness. To impose a cap on co-fired ROCs unfairly discriminates against one form of renewables, and surely it would make sense to treat all forms of sustainable renewable energy equally. For fairness, equality and maximising the potential for co-firing and for reducing CO2 emissions, I urge Her Majesty’s Government to drop the proposal for a cap on non-energy crop co-firing. My second point is about Clause 90 and the idea that electricity safety standards should be transferred to the Health and Safety Executive. I hope that the Minister will be able to explain how this will happen in reality and whether there will be sufficiently qualified personnel to deal with this aspect of the proposed legislation. My third point returns to renewables, but this time to what is not in the Bill. It is astonishing that the Government know that the Bill will bring only 5 per cent of renewables by 2020. Yet, a year ago, they committed themselves in Europe to at least three times that, so why have they not used the Bill urgently to introduce new measures to which they have committed us? We do not have much time to waste, as other noble Lords have mentioned. It must not be forgotten that this House committed in the Climate Change Bill to securing at least 70 per cent of ambitious CO2 cuts at home. Surely it is vital that we match these targets with urgent action. It does not altogether surprise me that, in the Public Bill Committee, MPs from all parties took an interest in proposed amendments to secure new measures for renewables. The Renewable Energy Association and Friends of the Earth are arguing for a tariff measure that is clearly effective across Europe for smaller scale renewables to work alongside the renewables obligation. The aim is to reach the investors and technologies that the renewables obligation does not reach, with a much more user-friendly support scheme. That means not only domestic microgeneration but community-scaled schemes. There may not be many community schemes in the UK, but in countries with excellent records on renewables, such as Sweden, Denmark and Germany, communities, farmers and individuals are the major investors. I urge the Government to look again at this proposal and its clear merits for making renewable energy accessible to a far wider constituency. Similarly, I welcomed MPs’ proposals to align the remit of the energy sector regulator, Ofgem, to climate change objectives. Again, it was this House, back in 2004, that gave the regulator a secondary duty to pursue sustainable development. However, we clearly need to go further. More than 10 gigawatts of renewables are currently held up due to a lack of network access, and if we are seriously to encourage local renewables, local distribution networks need to work very differently. Again, targets mean little without confronting the bold and difficult measures needed to deliver them. Finally, I refer to one of the four main goals: "““To ensure that every home is adequately and affordably””—" that magic word ““affordably””—““heated””. I have long been extremely concerned about fuel poverty and whether government help is correctly channelled to those who are most in need. I strongly believe that fuel poverty payments, especially to the elderly, ought to be means-tested. I echo much of what the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Chester said. In fact, it does not take much to see that a fixed tariff for domestic renewables could help us to address some instances of fuel poverty. I understand that Energywatch, which supports the tariff proposal, is talking to the social housing sector about the potential for this. In this day and age, it is a criminal shame that there are still 4 million fuel-poor households in the United Kingdom. These figures come from a time when fuel costs were relatively stable and do not take into account the different climatic regions in the UK. To give one small example, 23 per cent of households in the north-east are fuel poor, whereas the number of comparable households in London is a mere 9 per cent. This must be grossly unfair. If the Minister were to come to my part of rural Scotland on the hottest day of the year, he would find smoke coming out of every chimney. This would not happen if he focused on an area in the south-east of England. Sadly, the UK Fuel Poverty Strategy is in disarray. The positive progress in fuel poverty reduction between 1996 and 2004 has been halted and reversed by domestic energy price increases of more than 90 per cent for gas and 60 per cent for electricity. Further onerous price increases are definitely imminent, as mentioned in all today’s newspapers, which carried horrific headlines such as ““Consumers ‘getting it in the neck’””. My major concern is that the political will may diminish as fuel poverty targets, which had once appeared eminently achievable, become even more challenging. There are worrying signs not only that targets will not be met but that the Government are resigned to this position. I hope to table amendments to ensure that this does not happen.