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Energy Bill

Well, some of the companies were doing it. The noble Lord shakes his head but some of the companies were investing previously. However, when they discovered that the Government's penny was not going to be made available to them, they took their bowl home and refused to do it. There is an idea that we have to have British technology and that it has to have the Union Jack wrapped round it, as Ernie Bevin said. To my mind we are in a global economy where alliances between companies from across the world present us with myriad opportunities. However, we are talking only in terms of the UK. As regards Denmark and windmills, we did not need windmills because we had oil and gas. We did not need to get involved in it. No one thought about it. The Danes have a one-trick pony of an economy; they do not have much other than Carlsberg. They are doing rather well out of windmills. If there is such a demand for windmills in Britain, British business should set up plants to build them here. One was started in Campbeltown but folded because it could not get orders. Such was the state of the windmill industry in Britain. Let us talk about serious industry here. If Government have to get involved in it, they have to make choices and have priorities. This idea that there is a limitless pot of money that you can throw at every bright idea under the sun is not the way things are done. I want carbon capture and storage to work. It seems ridiculous that we should not be able to make use of coal as one of the elements of our generating portfolio. Let us choose a model to produce this technology, but if a Norwegian or an American model works better, we can produce it under licence, as is often the case. I do not think it would make that big a difference to our economy one way or the other if we produced it under licence or if we got all the licence money ourselves. As I say, I think that we should throw this amendment out when the opportunity arises because I am sure it will reappear.