Energy Bill

It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Barnsley, West and Penistone (Mr. Clapham). Speaking as a former colleague on the Trade and Industry Select Committee, I know that he is always worth listening to on account of his great knowledge of the subject. I hope that the Minister will take his views into account. I have since been thrown off that Select Committee in the Government's downsizing of scrutiny of their industrial policy. I notice that it is getting rather late. If I were at home at this time, I would usually be telling my seven-year-old son, Tom, a story—so let me tell the House a story about the confused MP for Wellingborough. A few months ago, I needed to replace my car, so I paid Saab Stratstone in Northampton a visit. People there observed that the leader of the Conservative party seemed keen on solving global warming and was very concerned about the environment, so they asked me whether the subject of the environment was now at the top of the agenda. I said, ““Yes, my right hon. Friend has indeed made that issue a priority.”” Actually, what really happened is I went into the showroom and they said, ““Isn't Dave, your leader, keen on the environment?””—but that roughly translates to what I previously said. They then asked me whether I would like to buy a biofuel car, because it reduced energy demands and the CO2 emissions were much less. I have to declare an interest in that I did buy that car. I thought how good it was that at the local Morrison's store, Wellingborough had one of only 19 E85 biofuel pumps in the country. I could happily fill up with biofuel and save the world. I continue to drive along in that car—doing very well, as it seems to be the way forward. Unfortunately, however, the Whips intervened and put me on a Delegated Legislation Committees to consider the renewable transport obligation. I thought, ““This is good; I can talk about my new biofuel car””, but as I listened to that debate, I suddenly realised that I was responsible for destroying the rain forest and putting up the price of food. Instead of saving the world, I was destroying the world! I was confused, but it still seemed the right thing to do. Then, lo and behold, as I drove around Wellingborough, a huge protest movement broke out. ““What's the problem?”” I asked. ““There is a plan to build a biofuel site in Rushden and everybody is up in arms about this disgraceful site””, I was told. People were right, as it was clearly in the wrong place. The object of my story is to show that the issue is not straightforward. I acknowledge that I should perhaps have done a little more investigation of the issues, as it is clear that there are both pros and cons. The problem with biofuels at the moment is sustainability. We must use second-generation biofuels from local sites where no disruption is caused. For example, a biofuel site off a main road, which is using waste material that would not be used for anything else, would be a good thing. Equally, however, there are some huge problems with the current system of biofuels.