---

Energy: National Policy Statements

My Lords, I intend, after some preamble, simply to ask the Minister two questions. I apologise that their subjects lie somewhat outside the bounds of our nominal task today, which is simply to consider the Draft Overarching National Policy Statement for Energy (EN-1). I recognise that the national policy statements are concerned mainly with planning matters, but I was abroad in December and unable to participate in the debate secured by the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, on 15 December, so I have taken this opportunity to speak. My first question relates to the process that has been gone through to choose the mix of energy technologies to be implemented between now and 2050—a mix that was chosen to meet our carbon targets and our need for security and to ensure the elimination of fuel poverty. My second question addresses our research into and development of renewable sources. I suspect that the noble Lord, Lord Judd, may not approve of the tone of what I am going to say. I should tell him that I share his concern about and love of our national parks, although they are not the subject of my speech today. I spent more than half my professional life in industry working in research, development and planning, struggling to make decisions in what has been referred to as an ill structured environment because in most cases many of the facts about cost and technical performance are unknown. To succeed as industrial engineers, we have to do as well as we can on limited information, but this does not prevent us doing all that we can to bring rigour to our deliberations. A range of possible outcomes is generally assessed, and a thorough analysis of costs completed as the data available allow. On the basis of this, we draw up comparisons and come to decisions about which alternatives to pursue and on what schedule. This is a highly complex process, often involving several alternatives, that will be pursued on the basis that predetermined milestones are met. The most skilled at this task in general are the most successful. Those that do not carry out such an analysis—in other words, who avoid the necessity to face reality and the market—are usually companies that think they are too small to do so, and they generally fail. After spending so much time on planning and assessing complex engineering tasks, I was looking forward to using my experience to evaluate our energy plans. In the UK low-carbon transition plan, I was able to find estimates of the carbon savings from the various initiatives and a breakdown of what was going to be accomplished in the various sectors: homes and communities, transport, waste, power, heavy industry and so on. But I have been unable to find the complex cost and performance estimates of the various combinations of energy sources, which I imagine must have been made to guide and inform those who have set the national energy strategy. After all, most of the renewable sources are known to be more expensive than fossil fuel sources, and it is important in these strained financial times that the overall cost of our plans is known and minimised within the constraints of our targets and that the potential damage to our performance of higher energy costs is assessed. It would clearly be very dangerous, analogous to the companies that do not make thorough estimates of the cost and performance of their new technologies, merely to wait to see how the market behaves and, in the case that the renewable fraction is not being taken up, merely throw more money at it. Where can I find these estimates of comparative cost and timescales? Without them, I feel that I am unable to fulfil what I see as my responsibility as one of the few engineers in this House to make a rational judgment about the feasibility and effectiveness of the Government’s energy plans in terms of financial efficiency and protecting our environment. My second question is naturally related to all this. How much of the money promised in the Budget 2009, Building Britain's Future and in other sources for research and development of renewable energy technologies has been allocated and what is planned for the future? It is imperative that we get on with these technologies and support the many world-leading groups and companies that we have with expertise in this sector. I recognise that the Minister may not have an answer immediately available, but I would be grateful if he would let me have an answer in due course.