The electricity/gas debate has hit the headlines again – this time fuelled by Martin O’Neill, Chairman of the Commons Trade & Industry Select Committee’s recent comments on gas.
Kelly Butler, Director of TEHVA (The Electric Heating and Ventilation Association) – part of BEAMAEnergy - believes Mr O’Neill is on the right track when he says: ‘…Britain cannot rely on gas’.
Butler comments: “It is a finite generation source and Britain is now faced with the threats associated with being a net gas importer. The Government remains in love with gas, but the future is clearly a sensible generation mix, which will include gas and a significant contribution from ‘clean’ electric.
We just need to work out by which clean (ie decarbonised) generation method. “While the Government sits on the fence regarding future generation policy, other forms of policy intervention continue causing significant long term market problems”.
He cites the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) presently being revised: “It will be used to determine how a new home is built and heated, or to rate an existing building on the basis of energy efficiency and the carbon intensity of the fuel used - gas seen as clean and electricity as dirty. But, as it’s only operating within a short-term policy time frame, it is naturally not mindful of the longer- term strategic view of a better-balanced energy supply.
“Mr O’Neill is clear, and so is every Government signal to date since the White Paper was published. The principle of increasing the generation and supply of clean electricity is the accepted objective. So let’s back it to the full, and set related policies in line with it.
“What we need to avoid now is a distortion within the heating market driven by the need to achieve short-term policy objectives. We need sensible consideration of long-term sustainable environmental and business needs."
Kelly Butler asks: “When will Government finally work effectively across its departments and think ahead about environmental and trade needs - and accept they are finely balanced and interrelated? If the generation mix moves towards a higher proportion of decarbonised electricity, then stop short-term policy making at the expense of the longer view.
“This is not a complicated issue in business terms. Poor strategic decision-making within Government today means we can look forward to importing our electric heating and hot water appliances in the future. This is because just a few years earlier the Government destroyed the UK industry through ill-considered market distortion.”
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There is an obvious need for the industry to be more energy efficient and pay more attention to the ways in which energy is both used and wasted. Do you think we have the products on the market to meet our needs?
