Letter to Dr Brian Count from Brian Wilson
MP, Minister of State for Energy and Construction
Thank you for your letter of 15 August to the
Prime Minister in which you express support for the advancement
of sustainable energy at the World Summit for Sustainable Development
(WSSD) in Johannesburg. I am replying in view of my responsibilities
within the Department for Energy issues.
As you will be aware, at the Johannesburg Summit,
the UK strongly supported the European Union's proposal for specific
global targets on renewable energy. In the event, no specific
global target was agreed, but all parties agreed in principle
on the urgent need to ensure that renewables provide a much larger
share of global energy generation.
I welcome the UK Business Council for Sustainable
Energy's participation in the global partnership for sustainable
energy, which was launched in Johannesburg. Your commitment to
the UK initiated Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership
is also welcomed, and the Government looks forward to working
together to drive these initiatives onward.
At the national level, as part of the Government-wide
Climate Change Programme, we are committed to a future where sustainable
energy issues are high on the agenda. We are taking a number of
steps to encourage renewables development and uptake. In April,
we launched the new Renewables Obligation on electricity suppliers,
with the aim that 10% of electricity sales will come from eligible
renewables by 2010. The Obligation will be underpinned by a package
of Government funding worth more than £260 million over three
years. This will support developments in technologies as diverse
as offshore wind, energy crops and solar photovoltaics, and enable
the industry to build up a substantial bank of knowledge and expertise.
These activities will also help us to meet our international emission
targets.
A strongly established domestic industry will
enable the UK to play a bigger role on the international stage.
The new Renewables UK unit will have an important role to play
in the development of UK expertise, and in the promotion of export
opportunities. As we build up our domestic knowledge and drive
down costs, the UK may well find itself in a good position to
assist with appropriately targeted renewable energy projects in
the developing world.
I hope this letter reassures you of the Government's
firm commitment to the development of renewable forms of energy
both at home and abroad.
12 October 2002
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