Alan explodes nuclear power myths
23rd January 2008
Dr Alan Whitehead, Member of Parliament for Southampton Test spoke yesterday in the House of Commons to explode the myth that nuclear power will fill the energy gap caused by a third of power stations needing to be replaced by 2020, and to support renewed effort on renewable and sustainable forms of energy.
Dr Whitehead was speaking in the Second Reading debate of the Energy Bill, which proposes a significant increase in the deployment of renewable technologies (through changes to the Renewables Obligation), clean coal technology development (through a new regulatory framework for Carbon Capture and Storage) and increased security of gas supply (through an improved offshore gas storage regime).
Speaking in the debate, Dr Whitehead said:
“Whether one thinks nuclear power is great or terrible, if we consider the energy debate facing us up to 2020, it is completely irrelevant in this country ... We face replacing many of our power stations by 2020; some 30 to 40 per cent. of our installed capacity will be replaced. As for the best estimates of when nuclear power will come on stream, even if everything went right and a nuclear power station were built ahead of schedule—that would be unparalleled in the world—even if the permissioning regime for a new power plant were fired up and there were lots of new officers, so the process was very quick and even if the planning process were relatively short, there would probably not be a single new nuclear power station on stream by 2020. Just conceivably, 1 GW of power might be generated by then, and 2018 is the earliest possible date; that would be possible if everything went right and a number of processes were carried out in parallel, rather than in sequence. It is more likely that it would be the early 2020s before any new nuclear power went on stream in the UK.”
Dr Whitehead then called for action on the real energy challenge facing the country:
“The challenge is to make sure that, over that period, the vast majority of the gap is made up either by renewables or by sustainable forms of energy, carbon capture and storage or—and this is my personal choice—energy initiatives such as making sure that any new gas power station is not only combined heat and power enabled but is attached to CHP distribution networks, so that its carbon footprint is half what it would otherwise be.”
Dr Whitehead concluded by indicating his support for the strengthened Renewables Obligation in the Energy Bill:
“The Bill is important, given its proposals on renewables and the renewables obligation certificates. Those systems will cause the market to ensure that we invest in renewable and sustainable energy. I therefore hope that the Bill completes its Second Reading. I endorse many other things mentioned by hon. Members, including the need to ensure that we encourage microgeneration by installing net meters alongside smart meters. Overall, we have to make an effort now on renewable and sustainable energy: to coin a phrase, there is no alternative”.
Speaking after the debate, Dr Whitehead said:
“The Energy Bill is a crucial piece of legislation, and I was pleased to be able to raise in the House of Commons the need to focus on the real energy challenge. The government’s own figures tell us that new nuclear power will not come to our rescue to fill the energy gap we will face by 2020. Therefore to keep the lights on we need to focus on renewable and sustainable energy – new nuclear power will be irrelevant.”
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More information
- Alan has been campaigning for action on Climate Change for 20 years. Firstly, as a Southampton Councillor, Dr Whitehead introduced and obtained funding for Southampton’s geothermal power plant after the government of the day had pulled the plug on funding for the project, which now provides clean, cheap energy and heating to much of Southampton. More recently, the key amendments of his Private Members Bill were incorporated into the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Bill and received Royal Assent last July. Dr Whitehead is also Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Renewable and Sustainable Energy Group, and Chair of All-Party Sustainable Resources Group. Dr Whitehead also took up the 25/5 challenge to cut his carbon emissions by 25% over 5 years, and through installing cavity wall insulation, recycling or reusing, and energy saving light bulbs he reduced his carbon footprint by 8.2% in 2005-6.