Energy Bill

I want to make two main points in the brief time that I have tonight. One is on energy policy, and I want to relate that to the present situation. In doing so, I want to express my concerns about the nuclear option. I believe that there is an alternative, to which I shall refer. The right hon. Member for Fylde (Mr. Jack) said that he had looked at various documents and could not find where the Government's energy policy had come from. Had he looked at the energy White Papers and the energy review, he would have seen quite clearly where it had come from. The Government's energy policy is based on four planks. The first is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and to help to reverse climate change. The second is energy security. The third, as my hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood (Paddy Tipping) said, is to ensure that heating and lighting can be provided to residents at reasonable prices. The fourth is to ensure that we can provide British industry with energy at prices that will enable it to retain its competitiveness. That is a commendable energy policy. The Bill will provide an energy mix that could serve those four goals. However, the nuclear option in that policy gives me cause for concern. There is an alternative, but I realise that we are looking at energy in a market context. The markets suggest that the energy gap is going to occur well before any nuclear capacity can be provided. It will occur between 2012 and 2015, because of the simultaneous run-down of nuclear and coal-fired power stations. Unless the Minister is prepared to consider capping the gas market, we are likely to see another dash for gas, as a result of the gas coming in from Norway at realistic prices. At present, 40 per cent. of our electricity is provided by gas, but we are likely to finish up with that figure being around 60 per cent. by 2020 unless he is prepared to act. I reminded the Conservatives earlier of two decisions that they made in the 1990s that had had an impact on the present situation. A third decision that they made, in 1989, was to implement the decision to lift the restriction on the burning of gas in power stations. In 1990, there was not one gas-fired power station in the UK. By 1999, 40 per cent. of our electricity was provided by such stations, using up enormous quantities of premium fuel. Consequently, we are now facing a crisis, and the Government have decided, in their energy policy, to tackle it by using the nuclear option. I believe that the nuclear option is wrong. It gives me great cause for concern. One of my concerns relates to carbon dioxide. We have heard a great deal about how nuclear power would reduce CO2 emissions, but the Government's own figures suggest that 10 nuclear stations would reduce those emissions by only about 4 per cent. I see the Minister looking at me as though those figures are new to him, but they come, as he knows, from the Sustainable Development Commission. We know that those 10 stations will not be producing electricity together until 2025, which will be well after the energy gap has occurred. We therefore need to act quickly, and to consider the alternatives. I suggest to the Minister that, to reduce CO2, we could take action to ensure that more freight travelled by rail. Every tonne of freight moved by road generates 12 times as much CO2 as a tonne moved by rail. Transferring more freight to rail would result in a greater reduction in CO2 emissions than the establishment of a fleet of nuclear power stations. My second concern about nuclear power stations is the enormous cost. There is a legacy from the previous generation of nuclear stations of £72 billion. To that we can add the £5.2 billion spent on bailing out British Energy. In addition, the likely cost of the depository is more than £20 billion, so we shall be starting with a £100 billion bill. The Minister must also be aware that building nuclear power stations uses an enormous amount of energy. He will also know that not one reactor has been built on time—the average delay is six years—or within budget. Finland's new reactor is now nearly two years behind schedule, and is already £1 billion over budget. It has squeezed out the renewables. The options that I think we should be considering for base load are carbon capture and storage, along with combined cycle technologies. They are much more flexible than nuclear for providing base load and, at the same time, they would move us away from a centralised energy system. We have heard much about what will be required, including flexibility, for the future and we will need to ensure that renewables of every type are available. Let me quickly say to the Minister for Energy that we need to look further into location. In my constituency, a number of windmills that are to stand 100 m high are being considered. On account of the visual pollution that comes with them, they are a cause of some concern to the local community. That is why location needs to be considered carefully. At the same time, we need to find other technologies that can help to deal with the four planks of our energy policy. It is right to concentrate on carbon capture and storage for base load, using clean coal technologies. He should perhaps also consider investing more in exploring underground gasification, which could provide us with enough methane gas to take us well into the future. There are alternatives, which is why, even at this 11th hour, I ask the Minister to pay more attention to them.