Room for disagreement over energy policy on Newsnight
With open warfare in the government over onshore wind, will politics or hard evidence dominate UK energy reforms? So begins a segment which provided a brisk run-through of the arguments for and against onshore wind subsidies and expansion in the UK on Newsnight last night. Here’s our rundown of the main arguments.
Reporter Susan Watts lays out the problem: onshore wind power is one of the more mature forms of renewable energy, but the coalition government is currently split over the role it has to play in the UK’s future energy mix.
Onshore wind is cheaper than other low carbon energy sources
Head of trade body RenewableUK, Maria McCaffery, appears early on to argue that the cost of onshore wind is coming down. This, she suggests, is why this year that the government reduced the subsidies the technology receives by 10 per cent.
Dr Rob Gross from Imperial College makes a similar point, arguing that without onshore wind – which compared to other renewable sources of power is relatively cheap – it would be more difficult and expensive to reach the UK’s renewable targets. Gross and a team presented evidence to the Energy and Climate Change select committee on the cost of wind this year.
But should we scrap renewables targets?
Next, the free market approach. Guy Newey from thinktank Policy Exchange argues that renewables “subsidies and targets” are the wrong way to shift the UK to low carbon energy. Instead he recommends a “long term and tougher” carbon price or emissions cap, coupled with targeted support for particular technologies, to help renewables compete on a level playing field with other generators.
Policy Exchange produced a report in June arguing that investment in more efficient gas generation would be a better bet for reducing carbon emissions than relatively expensive renewables such as offshore wind.
How do constituencies feel about windfarms?
Despite data indicating strong support for onshore wind countrywide, MPs like Rory Stewart report opposition in their constituencies to new turbines. Stewart, who has objected to new windfarms in Cumbria, and was one of 101 Conservative MPs who signed a letter to the Prime Minister calling for cuts to windfarm subsidies, told Newsnight that politicians “are not environmental experts” – they are instead there to represent their constituencies. He says its MPs’ jobs to “talk about what it feels like in the local area” – how windfarms affect the local economy, homes and livelihoods.
We can’t find data showing how the spread of public opinion among UK residents near turbines balances out, although many windfarms conduct surveys to gauge public support for existing installations. But a survey in Wales, for example, shows that opinion to a local windfarm was fairly evenly divided. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is currently consulting on ways developers could incentivise public acceptance of windfarms.
Onshore wind is part of government targets
The programme moves on to a debate over political divides between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats over onshore wind. As a novelty, it includes a debate between two of the very few scientists in the UK Parliament. First, Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark turns to Lib Dem MP for Cambridge Julian Huppert. He says despite comments by Conservative energy minister John Hayes suggesting an end to onshore wind earlier this month, Hayes’s boss Ed Davey, has reiterated “that the government’s commitment [to onshore wind] is clear”.
It sounds like the Lib Dems have resolved not to give way: Huppert says the Conservatives agreed to renewables targets and that the Lib Dems will make sure their coalition partners stick to the arrangement. Huppert adds he’s surprised at Hayes’s opposition to wind given that it’s cheaper than other forms of renewable energy. He says: “It would seem very odd at this time for John Hayes to be arguing strongly to spend more money than is necessary”
Do windfarms make economic sense?
On the other side was Conservative MP Philip Lee, a member of the ECC committee, who has said windfarm subsidies aren’t justified. You can see more on his opinions about energy here and he gives his views on climate science here. He’s argued instead for an “up-front subsidy for nuclear power” to ensure power generation happens across fewer sites. Although he supports government renewables targets, he says communities are against windfarms because the economics “don’t add up”. He says: “Ultimately we’re going to have a challenge as regards energy in the near future and we have to solve it in the most cost effective way.”
And there you have it – unusually for a debate about UK energy policy, the Newsnight segment managed to have a debate that’s actually about energy policy. No dodgy health studies or questionable climate science – just a good, even-handed bust-up on a major government spat that’s holding up the new energy bill. Isn’t that a cheery thought to take you into the weekend?
The wind section begins at 24 minutes here