Huhne backs new nuclear power plants
CHRIS Huhne, the energy secretary, threw his weight behind new nuclear energy yesterday, reversing years of Liberal Democrat opposition to nuclear power.
Huhne said a nuclear building programme would be “on track by 2018”, suggesting the government will move faster than originally thought.
The Institute of Directors welcomed the announcement, but called on the government to introduce a fast-track planning process.
“We are pleased Chris Huhne has stated unambiguously that new nuclear will play a part in meeting the UK’s energy needs. The message from business to this government is unambiguous: deal with the energy security problem and start dealing with it now,” said Graeme Leach, director of policy at the IoD.
Huhne also said Britain may need to double its electricity supply and virtually eliminate emissions from power stations by 2050 if it is to meet legally binding climate change targets.
Delivering the coalition’s first statement setting out energy policy, he said the “era of cheap, abundant energy is over”.
Industry, heating and transport will use more electricity instead of oil and gas as the government seeks to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 from 1990 levels.
Failure to build a low-carbon economy would leave Britain vulnerable to volatile oil prices, more reliant on imports and exposed to insecure energy supplies, Huhne added. The statement set out 32 ways to move away from fossil fuels and become more energy efficient.
“We must find ways of making energy go further,” Huhne said. “Even as we reduce overall demand for energy, we may need to meet a near doubling in demand for electricity.”
Energy bills will “rise considerably” in the coming years, the report said, although Huhne said it was hard to put a figure on the expected rises.
Plans for new “smart” electricity meters that allow people to monitor their consumption more closely could be brought forward to 2018 from 2020.