The Power Struggle Climate and Energy Policies Must Be Integrated

Summary

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ANY strategy to generate 15per cent of Britain's energy from renewable sources by 2020 will create some dissent, but the lobbying in advance of this week's white paper is dispiriting evidence of why Britain lags behind most of Europe in renewable energy. Fear that household energy bills will rise by more than GBP200 a year to pay for the cost, expected to be at least GBP100bn, of subsidies for electricity from renewables have brought warnings that more households will be pushed into fuel poverty, where more than 10per cent of household income goes on heating, lighting and cooking.

At the same time, the Confederation of British Industry has attacked the government's energy policy as disjointed, claiming that investment is skewed towards wind power at the expense of nuclear and clean coal, and that this is deterring private investment. The business leaders are urging a reduction in the proportion of wind power expected by 2020 to provide a balance between low-carbon sources, including nuclear and fossil fuel, with carbon capture and storage alongside renewables.

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The Power Struggle Climate and Energy Policies Must Be Integrated

This lobbying comes hard on the heels of a commitment by G8 leaders in L'Aquila that rich nations should cut emissions by 80per cent by 2050, ...

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