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Energy Bill

I am sure that the noble Lord, Lord Redesdale, will be grateful, as we all are, for the interventions of the noble Lords, Lord Oxburgh and Lord Woolmer, and my noble friend Lord Jenkin. We support the principle of competition, the purpose of which is to encourage a range of technologies. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Redesdale, that it is important that a scheme designed to encourage innovation through a competition should not prejudice any particular approach. While we are not yet convinced that the amendment is necessary, we support the principle behind it. It cannot be denied that dithering cost the United Kingdom the installation of the carbon capture and storage facility that BP proposed for Peterhead. We sincerely hope that more delay will not cost the United Kingdom the benefit of future projects, just as we hope that the Government will not engage in picking winners that might suppress better technologies from emerging.