The UK government issued its response this week to a report on the economics of renewable energy commissioned by the House of Lords Economic Affairs committee.
The report re-affirms the key objectives of the government to “bring about the transition to a low carbon Britain and to achieve an international agreement on climate change in Copenhagen in December 2009″.
The response stated that the government remain committed to a “near ten-fold expansion” in the use of renewable energy over the next 11 years and highlighted that the potential cost of damage caused by global climate change could be five times more than the cost of actions to stabilise global emissions by 2050.
The key message here from the Government is that investment now will result in avoiding higher costs in the future. The shorter term benefits of green collar jobs and business opportunities are recognised as they are by the global economy.
Specifically talking about wind energy, the House of Lords report said that the costs were much higher than nuclear and raised questions about intermittency. This is not in accordance with electricity company financial assessments who say that the costs are broadly the same (not taking into account decommissioning). The government expects the cost of new renewable energy technology to come down in the future and that “the transition to increased levels of variable wind generation will be a gradual one” with the impacts of intermittency manageable within the current market framework.
