It is not very often that the government reveals its intentions to disregard the law in such a transparent manner as was done recently. However, if one is to read between the lines of the recent statement made by Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Davey, then it would be very easy to see the intentions of the government and how they doubt Britain’s energy policy.
Everything about Mr. Davey’s statement revealed that the overall belief amongst his staff is that they are in a sort of catch twenty-two. On the one side of things the UK is expected to live up to its EU obligations and produce thirty-two percent of its energy from renewable sources. However, it is quickly becoming apparent that in order to provide energy for the entire country, the current plan will simply not work.
While the plan may be to reduce carbon emissions by up to eighty percent within the next forty years, the current political and bureaucratic situation surrounding the energy debate at the moment seems to be firmly tipped in big oil’s favour.
Between the lines of Davey’s announcement there are two very telling statements that were made which reveal the overall thought process in regards to his view on following the plan laid out by the EU. The first, shrouded in obscurity, is a projection that by the year 2017 the department hopes that the UK will be generating 79 terawatt hours (TWh) per year from renewable energy sources which would hopefully rise to about 108 TWh by 2020.
The figures sighted are in line with what would be required of the UK if it is to meet its renewable energy target, but it appears that Mr Davey is not hopeful that this will actually be the case.
