UK energy bill to focus on efficiency measures, Queen says during Opening of Parliament

25 May 2010

A national programme of energy efficiency measures will be introduced across the UK by legislation announced in the Queen’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament today.

The Queen today introduced 22 bills that the UK coalition government between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats will focus on in the next 18 months.

The Energy Bill will provide energy efficiency measures to homes and business across the country and put in place a framework to deliver a future with secure, low carbon energy supplies and fair competition in the energy markets.

In addition, it may also contain measures to create a Green Investment Bank to support low carbon projects to transform the economy.

The Queen also said the government will seek global collaboration to combat climate change, including at the UN’s climate change conference towards the end of the year in Mexico.

Chris Huhne, energy and climate change secretary, said the bill has been designed to help consumers put a stop to wasting energy in their homes through a green deal while making sure the UK energy system is fit for the twenty-first century.

‘The Queen’s Speech and last week’s programme of government make clear that energy security and taking real action to tackle climate change aren’t add on extras for this new government, but are vital to our national interest,’ Huhne said.

A statement by the Department of Energy and Climate Change said the bill may also contain measures to regulate emissions from coal-fired power stations and reform energy markets to deliver security of supply.

A framework may also be put in place to develop a smart grid that will revolutionise the management of supply and demand for electricity.

The bills put forward today are on the back of £6.25bn of public spending cuts announced yesterday by George Osborne.

The Solar Trade Association has reacted to the proposed cuts and said while it recognised the need to reduce the deficit as quickly as possible, there is also a requirement to meet a range of targets including the aim of obtaining 12 per cent renewable heating by 2020.

The STA said it believes pulling the relatively small budget required to support the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP) until the introduction of the new Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is a retrogressive step and will cause a loss of jobs in the industry

Howard Johns, chairman of the STA, said, ‘This is very bad news for the solar industry, and a very disappointing move from the new coalition who are aiming to be the greenest government ever.’

Copyright © 2010 NewNet

Tags: policy

This story was published on Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 at 3:51 pm and is filed under Europe, energy efficiency, energy storage, policy, solar. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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