UK Status & Prospects

30 kW glass/glass laminates
at the National Marine
Aquarium, Plymouth

Implementation of UK energy policy is delivered by a Sustainable Energy Policy Network which includes representatives from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department of Communities and Local Government and the Department of Transport.

The Renewables Obligation (RO) is the Government’s key mechanism for encouraging new renewable generating capacity. It was introduced in 2002 and requires licensed electricity suppliers to source a specific and annually increasing percentage of their sales from eligible renewable sources. For 2006/07 the level of the RO is 6.7% rising to 15.4% in 2015/16. Suppliers can meet their obligation by either presenting Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs); paying a buyout price (GBP 33.24 per MWh in 2006/07 rising each year with inflation); or a combination of the two. Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) are issued to generators for every 1MWh of eligible renewable electricity that they generate. These ROCs can then be sold to suppliers. At the end of an obligation period the money in the buyout fund is recycled to those suppliers who presented ROCs on a pro rata basis.

The Government's report on the Energy Review: "The Energy Challenge" was released on 11 July 2006. The review focused on the two major long-term challenges in UK energy policy: the need to tackle climate change by reducing carbon dioxide emissions; and the need to deliver secure, clean energy at affordable prices.

As part of the 2006 Energy Review the Government announced a number of proposals for changes to the Renewables Obligation as well as proposals for aggressive implementation of the Microgeneration Strategy to remove barriers to household renewables . The proposed changes to the RO include providing differentiated levels of support to different technologies and extending the level of the RO to 20%. A preliminary consultation on these changes was published in late 2006 and will be followed by further consultation. The earliest these proposals could be implemented would be 1 April 2009. Alongside this consultation a consultation on some more limited changes to the RO was also published including changes to make it easier for small generators to access the benefits of the RO. Subject to Parliamentary approval these changes will be introduced from 1 April 2007. Details of these consultations can be found at http://www.dti.gov.uk/consultations/page34162.html

The International Energy Strategy was launched in October 2004, and states that the UK Government will tackle climate change and curb carbon emissions and diversify the energy mix to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. The Strategy was reviewed in Autumn 2006 looking again at international energy and climate security policies, taking into account the findings of the Government's Energy Review.

The Stern Review Report on the Economics of Climate Change is an independent review carried out for the British government and released in October 2006. The review discusses the effect of climate change and global warming on the world economy and has attracted a great deal of positive attention. It makes a number of strong recommendations and concludes that there is still time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, if strong action is taken now. Its recommended actions include:

• Expanding and linking emissions trading schemes around the world

• Doubling support for energy research and setting international product standards for energy-efficiency

• Fully-integrating climate change adaptation into development policy, so that rich countries honour their pledges to increase support.