My Lords, I strongly support the amendments tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Oxburgh. Amendments 2 and 6 are of prime importance. The Bill prevents the Secretary of State setting a carbon intensity target for the electricity industry before 2016, which is when the UK’s fifth carbon budget is due to be set. It states that the Secretary of State may set a
target but does not compel him to do so. If he were to set a target, the earliest date from which the target range would be effective would be 2030. The amendments tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Oxburgh, would compel the Secretary of State to set a target by 1 April 2014. Here, we are revisiting territory that has already been fought over on Report in the House of Commons. An amendment with the same intentions and similar wording to the one we are considering was proposed by a cross-party alliance consisting of a Conservative ex-Minister, Tim Yeo, and the Labour MP Barry Gardiner. The outcome, after a long debate, was that the amendment was disagreed by 290 votes to 267. However, for the coalition it was a whipped vote, and it is clear that numerous Liberal Democrats, and quite a few Conservatives, defied the whip by voting in favour of the amendment. We may surmise, therefore, that a majority was in favour of the amendment, but that the expression of their opinions was limited by the imposition of the whip. One might wonder why the leaders of the Liberal Democrats agreed to the imposition of the whip. We must assume that it was a matter of political expediency, and that a quid pro quo was on offer.
4 pm
I believe that in this House they are not governed by such expediency, and therefore if this amendment comes to vote, we might reasonably expect that it will be accepted on Report, or that it will transpire in one way or another.
A strong recommendation in favour of the amendment has been provided by a submission from a consortium of energy providers, which has been sent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretaries of State for energy, for the environment, and for business and innovation. The submission declares strong support for the early introduction of a 2030 carbon intensity target. It draws attention to the doubts that have arisen concerning the Government’s commitment to a programme of decarbonisation and it seeks the reassurance that will allow manufacturers and operators to proceed with their investment plans.
Given that the ostensible purpose of the Energy Bill is to secure much needed investment in the electricity generating industry of the UK, it is extraordinary that the necessary commitments and undertakings have not been forthcoming from the Government. There is, of course, a suspicion that the Government’s stance has been determined by their need to appease the dissenters in their midst. There are strong reasons why this country and other industrialised countries should seek to staunch emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The fear of global warming led the independent Committee on Climate Change to recommend the target of an 80% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050. The carbon budgets of the Climate Change Act 2008 intended to help achieve this objective. Scientific opinion now tends to regard the anxieties that gave rise to the Act as seriously understated. For those who would open their eyes to the facts, the floods, firestorms, hurricanes and heat waves that are presently afflicting the world are early harbingers of far worse to come.
Some climate change sceptics who participated in the Commons debates expressed the opinion that by adhering to its decarbonisation targets Britain would be at a disadvantage relative to its industrial competitors, who would not be bearing such a burden. This contention embodies two fallacies. First, it is untrue that other countries are ignoring the hazards and that they are failing to impose constraints on their emissions of greenhouse gases. It remains true nevertheless that such action as has been taken is quite inadequate to avert the danger. The second fallacy is that there is a disadvantage in being ahead of the pack in adopting alternative means of energy generation of limited emissions. The reverse is probably true and there should be a considerable advantage in developing energy supplies that are independent of fossil fuels.
One of the hazards of fossil fuels that have a finite supply, is a tendency for the prices to escalate under the pressure of demand. This is what has been happening to the price of gas, with the effect that recently electricity utilities have been relying more heavily than hitherto on coal-fired power stations. This hazard could be avoided by using a combination of wind power and nuclear power for generating electricity. The intermittence of the first source and the inflexibility of the second source could be overcome by using the capacity available in slack times to produce hydrogen fuel that could be used to power generators to meet peak demand.
The climate change sceptics have been able to imagine a future of gas-powered electricity generation dependent on shale gas extracted in the UK. We have been told that there may be 40 years-worth of gas if we can get at it by fracturing the ground. It is not certain that we could get at the gas, and if it were to be exploited to a significant extent, we would be in danger of breaking our commitment to staunch emissions of carbon dioxide. In addition, 40 years is a limited duration in this context, and we should be looking towards far more distant horizons. So for all sorts of reasons, I would strongly support this amendment and I hope others will do likewise.