Sir, John Hofmeister is right to highlight the prominence of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas in our future energy mix (“We still need oil, so let’s learn to live with it”, June 25). However, he fails to highlight the geopolitical and energy balancing challenges that must be addressed so overdependence on any one fuel is avoided.
New statistics from the Department of Energy and Climate Change should concern those now in charge of energy policy. They show that although energy demand is down, due to the recession, the UK’s gas imports rose sharply in the past 12 months.
Imports of natural gas in the first quarter of 2010 were 31 per cent higher than a year ago. In the first quarter of 2010, and for the first time since 1968, gas imports exceeded indigenous production. Importantly, gas use for electricity generation was 18.4 per cent higher than in the same period last year. Coal burn to generate electricity was down by 17.8 per cent.
Gas is clearly displacing coal and new nuclear is years away. Over 90 per cent of planned and new power plant construction in the UK is gas fired; by 2020 it is estimated we may need to import about 80 per cent of our total gas requirements, with over a third of this used in gas fired power stations.
This is not a balanced or strategic energy policy. The challenge must be to speed up approval for new nuclear and clean coal, support more reliable renewables and consequently prevent our over-exposure to one fuel, which will lead to price volatility and affect our future economic competitiveness.
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Tony Lodge
Research Fellow Centre for Policy Studies