Good times, bad times (Jonathon Porritt)

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« UK is right to trial carbon capture | Main | Nuclear comes clean »

Good times, bad times

I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m finding it mighty difficult trying to work out whether these are good times or bad times for the renewable energy sector here in the UK.

On the one hand, all the ‘big boys’ (Shell, BP, Scottish and Southern, and so on) have more or less given up and exited the country, and Vestas (the UK’s largest wind manufacturer) sent shockwaves round the markets last week by announcing that it was going to be closing its factory on the Isle of Wight.

On the other hand, the British Wind Energy Association is full of confidence at the prospects for industry (particularly offshore wind), and not just for ‘big wind’. Its latest press release trumpets the conclusions of a new study from America demonstrating major growth in demand for small wind technologies (less than 50 KW). By all accounts, the UK is the world’s biggest exporter of wind turbines in this division, doubling its revenues in 2008 and creating 500 new jobs in the process.

The recent Budget must have strengthened the hand of the renewables optimist, with an additional £500 million for offshore wind to be made available between 2011 and 2014, and £70 million to revive the Low Carbon Buildings Programme and provide new support for community heating schemes.

That particular announcement must also have been very welcome to the UK photovoltaics (PV) industry. Back in March, DECC (the Department of Energy and Climate Change) went temporarily bonkers by axing funding for its solar PV programme – ostensibly on the grounds that it was proving “too popular”, depriving other technologies in the programme of their anticipated share of support.

This is the kind of stop-start idiocy that has characterised the UK’s support for renewables (and PV in particular) going back over many, many years. Some have hypothesized during that time that this is all the proof you need of genuine conspiracy, not cock-up, engineered by a succession of senior civil servants in thrall to the fossil fuel and nuclear lobbies. I, of course, couldn’t possibly comment on such scurrilous hypothesizing, but the intensity and frequency of the cock-ups do rather play into the hands of the conspiracy theorists.

Perhaps that’s now all over? DECC has guaranteed a proper level of ongoing funding for PV, with “no more stop and start”. We’ll see.

In the meantime, if I was an investor, I’d still be very wary. Incoherence in public policy plays straight into scepticism and ambivalence in capital markets. And that’s exactly the problem we still have here in the UK, on both the big stuff and microgeneration.

Posted by Jonathon Porritt on May 5, 2009 3:59 PM | Permalink

Comments (6)

Dear Jonathon,
Thanks for the interesting blog. I'd like to pick you up on the second paragraph of this piece.
Scottish & Southern Energy is the largest generator of renewable energy in the UK. It is one of the leading developers of both on and offshore wind, with Europe’s largest onshore windfarm at Clyde (456MW) and the 500MW Greater Gabbard offshore windfarm within its construction portfolio. Through its renewables arm ‘Airtricity’, which SSE bought for over £1 billion last year, SSE is also involved in wind projects in Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands, and also owns part of Aquamarine Power Ltd, a marine renewables specialist. SSE is on course to achieve its aim of having 4GW of renewables by 2013, as well as to meeting its target of reducing the carbon intensity of its generation fleet by 50% by 2020.
We have certainly neither given up nor exited the country!
Regards,
Rufus Ford, Scottish & Southern Energy

Posted by Rufus Ford | May 6, 2009 10:39 AM

Jonathan, I've just posted your "Renewables" blog on this issue. As I've said on several occasions, the politicans are playing with you environmentalists. All they want is your votes. They do not believe any more than I do that humans have any significant impact upon global climates.Regards, Pete Ridley, Human-made Global Warming Agnostic

Posted by Pete Ridley | May 18, 2009 12:17 PM

I read a question you posed in the Times earlier today. You asked "How significant would it be if the world’s major religions and faith communities became fully engaged (indeed, militantly engaged!) in enabling societies to embrace low-carbon, sustainable living?"

Can you explain exactly what you mean when you talk about becoming "militantly engaged"?

Posted by Phil | May 26, 2009 11:35 AM

Phil,

You're closer to key issue than many would think.

We have a one-sided perspective. Its hard to accept that we've no more right to this place than a worm, or a Panda. Instead we war with species over the limited space. Man's ego, his instinct to survive means he wont really consider the Panda's perspective.

Most 'religions and faith communities' are very mannish things - you cant expect pro-man agencies to provide genuine answers. Its as if the planet needs a voice - perhaps its been speaking - but we're not listening.

Posted by Brassa | May 28, 2009 12:19 AM

I fully agree with you, Brassa. The real crisis in our home, is the crisis of biodiversity, and its loss is real, and painful. Bad times, for sure.
Living a low-carbon life might help to decrease this loss, but it is not enough.

Maybe, though, Mr Ridley (oh my, he's really a maniac obsessed guy!) will not agree, probably he's got a bunch of articles that will show that there are actually MORE species now than some centuries ago. The question is, why doesn't he concentrate on his own blog?

Yours sincerely (and thank you for sharing the information),

Anna

Posted by Anna | July 20, 2009 9:49 PM

Anna, please join me on the Sustainable Development Commission "Have Your Say" blogs. Intelligent debate is welcome, but of course, we do try not to insult those who have contrary opinions, do we not!

One of my beliefs is that humans come top of the pecking order, but I suspect you disagree. Never mind, you're entitled to your opinion.

Best regards, Pete Ridley, Human-made Global Climate Change Agnostic

Posted by Pete Ridley | August 9, 2009 2:22 PM

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