The UK government has launched a consultation period to help shape proposals for the future of the country’s energy policy, which ministers say must include view about nuclear energy, ensure security of supply, and move towards a low carbon economy.
Energy minister Brian Wilson said the consultations would run until the end of the summer, leading to a White Paper ‘around the turn of the year’. The process would include a response to the recent review of UK energy policy “and to its emphasis on a low-carbon economy and greater energy efficiency.” His comments were supported by the UK’s minister for environment, food and rural affairs, Margaret Beckett, who said: “Whether it be gas, electricity, solar, wind, coal or nuclear energy, we want to hear views on how our future energy policy framework can effectively achieve the objectives of sustainable development – economic, environmental and social improvement. We also need security in our energy supply.
“We must move towards a low carbon economy to respond to our climate change targets. Energy policy has a vital role to play in people’s homes, how they travel and in the way business conducts itself on a daily basis. Sustainable energy is the key and I am heartened when I see how serious a role others attach to the environmental aspects of any future energy policy.”
