The hard choices facing UK Governments on energy policy are well known. Nuclear generation, currently responsible for 23% of nuclear generation, will decline to 7-8% by 2020 unless new nuclear power stations are constructed. At the same time, it looks highly unlikely that Britain's renewable industry will be able to reach the target of providing 10% of renewable generation by 2010. Critics argue that, unless radical steps are taken, Britain will become increasingly reliant on fuels that will make it impossible to fulfil its emissions obligations. The recent Energy White Paper was accused by some of ducking these hard choices. The Foreign Policy Centre held a small high-level seminar to discuss whether mainland Europe holds lessons for the UK in moving towards a non-carbon fuel economy with experts from NGOs, politics and Business as well as government representatives from EU member states.

Key Issues discussed included:

• Is Britain spending too little on renewable research and development compared to other EU member states?
• Does the Government need to be more active in "picking winners" in the renewables market and more active in keeping the nuclear option open?
• Are Britain's planning laws stifling non-Carbon generation?
• Will public opinion make further nuclear build in the UK impossible or are the Government underestimating the public's pragmatism?

Speakers included:

• Dr Desmond Turner MP from the House of Commons Science Committee
• Nick Eyre from the Energy Saving Trust
• Malcolm Grimston, Imperial College Centre of Energy Policy & Technology.

Download the report (70 kilobyte PDF)