Energy: Self-sufficiency

Lord Ezra Excerpts

Monday 15th October 2012 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Ezra]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the UK could again become self-sufficient in energy.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Baroness Verma)]

My Lords, I begin by paying tribute to my noble friend for his contributions and consistency in bringing this and similar Questions to our attention. The Government are committed to maximising all UK energy resources, including from the UK continental shelf and from UK-based renewables. However, all plausible scenarios of future energy use up to 2050, such as those set out in the Government’s carbon plan, require some fossil fuels. The amounts of oil and gas produced from the UK continental shelf are declining year on year. This means that it is unlikely that the UK could become completely self-sufficient in energy. However, import dependence is not new to the UK. We were heavily dependent on imports until the 1980s. We work closely with international partners such as Norway.

[Lord Ezra]

My Lords, as the House knows, historically this country was self-sufficient in energy supplies thanks to coal, natural gas and oil from the North Sea. However, as my noble friend mentioned, we had to import no less than one-third of our requirements in 2011. Does my noble friend agree that it will remain a major plank of the Government’s energy policy to reverse this trend as soon as possible? Secondly, will she confirm that there will be adequate electricity supplies and generating capacity, in view of the recent report of Ofgem that stated that there might be a reduction in capacity in the next four years?

[Baroness Verma]

My noble friend is absolutely right that we need to try to maximise the economic recovery of oil and gas from the UK continental shelf, and our most recent licensing round has been the most successful ever. We are committed to working with industry to create a new world-leading, cost-effective UK carbon capture and storage industry, and policies such as the Green Deal and the introduction of smart meters will reduce our energy demand and ensure more efficient use of the fuel that we use. Our ongoing work is to achieve renewable targets which significantly increase the proportion of clean domestic energy in the mix. Ofgem’s recent report provides a comprehensive analysis of the security of supply. We are looking at it very carefully and will respond formally by the end of the year.