Kevin Rowan
Mar 13 2006 By Kevin Rowan, The Journal
Rising energy costs have dramatically penetrated the consciousness of employers and consumers alike in the last 12 months or so.
Households have faced price rises of between 15-24% and employers have closed businesses as their returns are unable to match these frightening increases.
We are not just in the middle of an energy review, we are in the middle of an energy crisis, and its impact is as severe locally as it is globally.
Energy policy seeks to provide accessible energy, balancing affordability and security of supply, as well as seeking dramatic reductions in CO2 emissions.
Achieving these potentially conflicting dynamics is a tall order, especially when the current energy options are relatively limited, and current policy seems to be failing in each area.
Nuclear power currently contributes 20% of UK energy supply, but all existing power stations need to close by 2020, and each replacement costs around £2bn and takes 10 years to build.
It is thought gas-fired power stations could provide up to 80% of supply by 2030, but there are strong concerns about security of supply, demonstrated by the recent wrangles with Russia, France and Germany.
And the Green Paper on energy published by the European Commission, far from being seen as a solution to European energy policy failings, has been greeted with scepticism.
Renewable energy sources account for only 4% of UK supply, and it is clear from recent planning decisions that radical increases in this area are problematic too.
Microgeneration, solar panels and windmills on our houses and factories, has considerable potential, but the public has barely bought into this agenda yet.
To dismayed expressions of "we told you so" from the NUM, coal is back on the energy agenda. The government has even established a clean coal task group to review the potential of carbon capture technology to support expansion of coal fired power generation.
The problem is that there are only 12 coal fired power stations left in the UK, India has 150 and there are 600 in China, and we are already importing masses of coal.
There are no easy solutions. TUC policy supports a more balanced diversity in our energy supply, and as the economy continues to grow, here and abroad, we clearly need to do much more to manage demand too, to move much more rapidly to sustainable economic growth.
The TUC is holding two energy and environment seminars this week (details on tuc.org.uk/northern) to debate these issues.
If we fail to solve the energy crisis soon we will see many more businesses closing down, and rather than seeing the end of fuel poverty, it will become more prevalent.
