Wasted energy - Josh 231

From the video yesterday. Around about 16:49:45 - kind of summarises the whole debate ;-)

Cartoons by Josh  

Lordly questions

Energy: Self-sufficiency

Question

2.52 pm [15 October 2102]

Asked by Lord Ezra

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the UK could again become self-sufficient in energy

....will [my noble friend] confirm that there will be adequate electricity supplies and generating capacity, in view of the recent report of Ofgem that stated that there might be a reduction in capacity in the next four years?

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201213/ldhansrd/text/1210150001.htm#12101518000364

From Today's Moderator

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Parsing the report on the draft Energy Bill

The House of Lords informal working group on the draft Energy Bill has reported. I have made some excerpts from their paper, together with my take on what is meant.

[1] We understand that the Government’s long term aim is that of a competitive market for electricity but we have serious doubts that it can be reached by the mechanisms proposed in the Draft Bill.

Translation: This is a shambles.

[2]...if these proposals are implemented, the process for awarding contracts to supply electricity will, for much of the time between now and the end of the decade, be largely at ministerial discretion.

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Lawson in the FT

A nice letter from Nigel Lawson in the FT.

From Lord Lawson.

Sir, I would like, as a former energy secretary, to wish Ed Davey, the new secretary of state for energy and climate change, the best of luck in his new job. He has the opportunity to enter the history books as the only minister to use his position to abolish it for the wider public good. The yoking together of energy and climate change has given this country the worst energy policy for a generation – bad for the economy, bad for industry, bad for the taxpayer and bad for the consumer. The time has come to put responsibility for climate change policy back into the environment department, where it properly belongs, and to put energy policy into the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills from where Mr Davey has just emerged.

Nigel Lawson, House of Lords

Well, one can hope, I suppose.

A Miller's tale - Josh 139

The UK Goverment House of Lords debated the Green Agenda yesterday and spent some time talking about food, although it was not clear why. Perhaps they thought the subject was about 'greens' and eating enough vegetables.

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