Last week in Parliament the Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change was asked how the £5.8 billion that the Government would spend on renewable energy over the three years ended April 2011 was broken down.
It was a good question, asked by Greg Clark for two reasons; the first reason is that it would be good to know how the money would be divided between the various renewable technologies and secondly it highlights the fact that the amount spent is less than £2 billion a year, when averaged out. It might be worth remembering that the nation spends over £3.5 billion every year on the BBC, which as far as I know, is not the greatest long term threat facing the planet.
Mr Kidney (who sounds like one of A P Herbert’s litigants) answered in terms that I do not understand. He first claimed credit for Government policies driving £50 billion worth of renewable energy spending, which is news to me and no doubt to everyone else in the renewable energy industry.
Mr Kidney then went on to say that the £5.8 billion was an estimate and did not include money spent on the emissions trading scheme (why should it?) or money spent on insulation; again, as far as I know insulation does not provide renewable energy, but perhaps the Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change knows more than I do on this matter and is keeping soemthing up his sleeve.
Perhaps I should offer a prize for the Minister that actually answers this question. Any suggestions for what I should offer?
Filed under: carbon dioxide, carbon emissions, carbon trading, climate change, energy, global warming, renewables | Tagged: average spend on renewable energy, climate change, DECC, energy policy, Greg Clark MP, insulation, Mr Kidney MP
The comparison against the Beeb is interesting, thank you! Though I do regard TV as a continuing potential threat to my mental health… B^>
I do think however that insulation can and should count in this case as it delivers many times (3x–10x maybe depending on the specifics) the energy and emissions savings per £ spent. For my house conservation vs solar PV microgeneration has been about 1:10 in cost per kgCO2 avoided very roughly for example.
Rgds
Damon