Tories publish energy green paper

The Conservative Party has published its plans to tackle the UK’s looming energy crisis and construct a sustainable energy system if it comes to power in the next general election.

In its green paper on energy policy Tory leader David Cameron said British energy policy is long overdue reform.

Cameron said: “Unless we diversify our energy sources, unless we upgrade our energy networks, unless we pay as much attention to energy efficiency as we do to energy production, then our energy supplies will be neither secure nor sustainable”.

The paper titled ‘Rebuilding security’ outlines a 12-point action plan to rebuild Britain’s energy security. Proposals include a streamlined planning regime for large infrastructure projects, and support for nuclear power, renewables and carbon capture and storage.

Unless we diversify our energy sources, unless we upgrade our energy networks, unless we pay as much attention to energy efficiency as we do to energy production, then our energy supplies will be neither secure nor sustainable

David Cameron

A number of the proposals have been out before including reducing demand by offering every household a “green deal” on energy efficiency and the creation of a green investment bank to attract third party investment in a low-carbon economy.

The paper also criticises both the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EETS) and Carbon Climate Levy saying they are both flawed.

It says the EETS has created a volatile carbon price that doesn’t encourage long-term investment and it proposes that it will reform the Climate Change Levy in such a way that it would be removed from the ‘downstream’ supply of electricity to consumers and would instead be payable ‘upstream’ on the carbon content of electricity when it is generated