Lord Teverson
Main Page: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Baroness Verma
My Lords, that was what I hoped and tried to get across; obviously I failed. I would like to reiterate that this Government want to be the greenest Government ever, and in doing that are of course looking at all renewable energies. Onshore wind is only a small part of the renewable energy sector, but it is an important one, one that is very cost effective, and one that will hopefully be part of our energy security for the future.
Lord Teverson
My Lords, one of the issues about onshore wind is that we pay generators to stop generating, so the wind turbines actually stop operating. That costs us money. Would it be a much better solution if we used that energy: if we kept on generating electricity, and we topped up the storage heaters and the hot water tanks of the fuel poor? Instead of paying generators not to generate, we could use that electricity to help fuel poverty. I understand that the technology is already there; why do we not use it?
Baroness Verma
My Lords, my noble friend raises a number of very important points. The Government recognise that smart electric heating may in future provide a low-carbon solution to a range of energy challenges, including balancing the supply of electricity. DECC’s heat strategy team have had constructive discussions with utilities and manufacturers to discuss this potential further. The Government will publish a document on the strategic framework for heat in the coming months.