Climate Change and SustainableEnergy Bill

Yes; biomass remains an area that needs to be explored more fully. Some hon. Members are inclined to dismiss the potential of microgeneration for UK energy supply, which is enormous. Microgeneration can contribute 30 to 40 per cent. of a household’s energy bill. If such percentages were applied to the whole UK energy bill on a national long-term basis, that would dwarf the current contribution made by, for example, nuclear power. Microgeneration is an incredibly important part of the overall UK energy supply. This is about more than reducing carbon emissions. Promoting microgeneration will avoid dependence on dangerous and expensive alternatives, and thereby make an important contribution to UK energy supply resilience. We have only to compare microgeneration with nuclear power, which is now being discussed more often than it used to be, to see some of the advantages of microgeneration. Where nuclear power depends on a centralised energy supply system, microgeneration is more efficient and works on a decentralised system. The hon. Member for Ruislip-Northwood (Mr. Hurd) has referred to the equivalent of 73.5 million tonnes of oil being lost in the distribution and conversion of energy. Nuclear power would not tackle that issue, but microgeneration would. Nuclear power is inherently risky not only in the short term, but the long term. Some cases involvewaste hanging around for millenniums, whereas microgeneration is inherently safe and efficient. Microgeneration is inherently diverse, because it involves more than one form of energy production—heat pumps, combined heat and power, micro-hydro, solar-thermal, photovoltaics and wind power. If any one of those sources were to prove to be less valuable than we currently hope, there would be many other sources to take its place, which makes it an inherently more secure form of energy supply than one that relies on a few major, large-scale, centralised sources.