Press Releases
ELECTRIFYING BRITAIN
PRESS RELEASE
15th July 2005
ELECTRIFYING BRITAIN - FORWARD WITH COAL, GAS OR NUCLEAR POWER?
Dan Lewis, Research Director of the ERC says “With the forthcoming retirement of nuclear and coal plants, if Britain doesn’t start building new conventional electricity plant now, the lights will start to go out all over the country. 50% of our plant needs replacing by 2020, 75% by 2030 and this government is dangerously failing to give a lead. That’s why the ERC, Britain’s oldest economics-based think tank, has commissioned a unique and first-rate guide for policymakers, journalists and members of the general public, who need quality information from an unbiased source; what are the different cases for coal, gas or nuclear power over the next 20 years?
Today, in order to raise public and political awareness of this problem, we have written to every MP and Peer in the Houses of Parliament. We have asked them to participate in an anonymous fax survey to determine what is their preferred conventional power source, coal, gas or nuclear?”
Background:
The forthcoming retirement of nuclear plant and coal-fired generation points to a fast-emerging energy hole in Britain’s electricity generating capacity.
To quote the Cabinet Office’s Performance and Innovation Unit’s Energy Report of 2002:
“The current level of electricity generation in Great Britain is about 70 Gigawatts. In very broad terms we would expect one-fifth of the generating capacity to need replacing by 2010, one half by 2020, three quarters by 2030 and almost all by 2040”.
The government however, has not heeded the urgency of its own report. It has overstated the case for renewables, anticipating its emergence as a full-scale replacement for large coal and nuclear power while gas will have to be increasingly imported from abroad, as the North Sea fields are run down.
The Study is divided into 3 chapters; the case for coal, gas and nuclear by 3 leading experts in the field:
• Tony Lodge, a political and coal energy analyst, puts the case for coal. Lodge says “Britain must not miss out on the clean coal revolution. Secure power generation through CCT is the obvious priority in the great energy debate”. Tony can be contacted on tonylodge@energyscene.com.
• Chris T. Cragg, a former Financial Times Energy Economist, puts the case for gas. Cragg says “Natural gas will remain the fuel of choice for power generation in the UK. Gas burning power plant are the cheapest and most flexible of electricity sources available. Gas supply sources are growing rapidly, while any other technology will require fundamental changes in the power market and probably subsidy from the state”. Chris can be reached on ctcragg@dial.pipex.com.
• Malcolm C. Grimston, author of 2 authoritative books on nuclear power and a regular media contributor on energy matters, puts the case for nuclear. Grimston says “'With world energy demand soaring and climate change a real threat, the question is which politician dare NOT to support more nuclear energy?” Malcolm can be reached on malcolm@malcolmg.fsnet.co.uk.
