Power to the People

Author: Chris Hewett
Contributors:
Price: £10.00
Publication Date: 15 October 2001

The forces of market liberalism, new technology and climate change mean the energy industry needs to develop a new model in the 21st Century. This will include a major contribution of energy from low carbon, decentralised sources.

Despite being in the vanguard of liberalism, Britain's energy policy is largely designed for the past, not the future. It is not ready for this revolution in low carbon technologies. Current policy still creates huge barriers to the combination of energy efficiency, clean power and innovative solutions that the energy industry is capable of in order to cut greenhouse gases. This report sets out how Britain could fundamentally alter its energy policy framework and incentives in order to remove those barriers.

UK energy policy objectives need to be changed to give a higher priority to social and environmental concerns over liberalisation and competition. Energy regulation must cater for the future by encouraging small scale energy generation, particularly from renewable sources, and rewarding more efficient use of heat in the energy system. Finally price signals must be used to discourage the waste of energy and promote clean energy sources. Such changes could facilitate a low carbon energy model in Britain, which could be exported around the world as our privatisation model has been.