Open letter on Draft Energy Bill and wider energy policy

An open letter from Scientists for Global Responsibility to the UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change arguing that the Draft Energy Bill and current energy policies are unambitious and biased toward the nuclear industry at the expense of renewables and energy efficiency.

• The Draft Energy Bill's Emissions Performance Standard for new electricity generating plants is considered unambitious at 450 g/kWh until 2045, and the wording regarding Carbon Capture and Storage exemptions may allow new unabated coal-fired plants to bypass restrictions. SGR suggests an explicit target of no more than 50 g/kWh by 2030 to meet Climate Change Act targets.
• The proposed Feed-in Tariff with Contracts for Difference (FiT-CfDs) is viewed as a mechanism that unfairly favours the nuclear industry over renewables, potentially breaching the coalition government's commitment not to subsidise nuclear power. SGR notes that nuclear projects in Finland (Olkiluoto) and France (Flamanville) have been massively over-budget and behind schedule, yet the FiT-CfD locks consumers into supporting nuclear for up to 25 years, compared to 15 years for renewables.
• UK government support for renewable energy is described as lacking ambition, specifically citing 'over-zealous' cuts to solar energy tariffs and insufficient support for wind power, which led Vestas to cancel a wind turbine factory in Kent that would have provided nearly 2,000 jobs.
• The government's Green Deal is criticised as unambitious and likely less effective than previous energy efficiency schemes due to low ECO subsidies and poor timeliness of documentation. SGR argues that energy conservation should be central to UK energy policy to address fuel poverty, greenhouse gas emissions, and energy security.
• SGR proposes that the government use a small portion of quantitative easing funds (which stood at £375bn) to fund a large-scale insulation and business premises upgrade programme. They suggest that funding of £5-10bn for major city regions, such as Leeds, would be commercially viable and could be scaled across the UK.

APA

Webber, P. (2012). Open letter on Draft Energy Bill and wider energy policy. Scientists for Global Responsibility. https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/open-letter-ed-davey-draft-energy-bill

Chicago

Webber, Philip. Open letter on Draft Energy Bill and wider energy policy. Scientists for Global Responsibility, 2012. https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/open-letter-ed-davey-draft-energy-bill.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Webber |first1=Philip |title=Open letter on Draft Energy Bill and wider energy policy |publisher=Scientists for Global Responsibility |date=19 July 2012 |url=https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/open-letter-ed-davey-draft-energy-bill |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{webber2012open, author = {Webber, Philip}, title = {{Open letter on Draft Energy Bill and wider energy policy}}, publisher = {Scientists for Global Responsibility}, year = {2012}, month = jul, url = {https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/open-letter-ed-davey-draft-energy-bill}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }