The countdown to summer recess has started and that can only mean one thing - wave upon wave of policy announcements. Despite being preoccupied by the hacking scandal, ministers and civil servants are keen to clear their desks before going on holiday.
Sometimes, things just don't quite get resolved in time and with Parliament rising on 19 July, it is touch and go as to whether ministers will be able to announce their decision on bovine tuberculosis. Just in case you were wondering, here is our current position.
Even our frends in the European Commission take a break over the summer, and proposals for reform of the Common Fisheries Policy emerged this week. Our initial response is shown here.
Further analysis of the Electricity Market Reform proposals suggested that, although it pulled together a clear plan of action, actually there was not a great deal that is new. Alongside the renewables roadmap which I blogged about here, the White Paper announces four main things.
1. A floor price for carbon in order to give market certainty about the carbon price. (A floor price sets a level below which prices cannot fall.) This is not new. It has been Conservative policy for years and was announced in the 2011 Budget. The main aim has always been primarily to provide support for nuclear. The extent to which it does so will depend upon the price set and whether nuclear new build costs are as low as the industry claims. The price will start at £15.70/tonne CO2 in 2013 and rise to £30 in 2020 and £70 in 2030 (normalised at real 2009 prices).
2. Long term contracts for low carbon electricity, renewable (including biomass power), nukes and carbon capture and storage. This is essentially a feed in tariff where electricity generators are paid to produce low carbon electricity below a given tariff, or have to give money back if electricity sells for more than the set tariff. The idea is to give long term market certainty in terms of price. They consulted on this so it is not brand new. Implementation is likely to take years, legislation through to 2014 and letting contracts through to 2019.
3. An Emissions Performance Standard (EPS) for all new fossil fuel electricity generation. This is an old idea that we in the NGO world have been pushing for years so it is nice to see it getting traction at last. The level will be set at 450g CO2/kWh is however too high. It should be 350. The government has set it at 450 mainly for security of supply reasons, so that it will allow continued burning of coal. Combined cycle gas turbines should already give emissions well below 450, down near 350, although 450 will mean that new coal fired stations will need to be about 40% better than existing plant (much of which is anyway old and clapped out). There will be regular review of the EPS, the next completing in 2015. The govt intends to rate biomass at zero emissions – bad if not done right, see stuff on biomass below.
4. A capacity mechanism. This is a means of trying to ensure security of the electricity supply. A quarter of generation will close down soon and quite a lot of new generation is intermittent or fluctuating (i.e. wind). The UK Government is still consulting on this and will come up with legislation in 2012.
This summer has now seen publication of the Natural Environment White Paper, the Electricity Market Reform, Common Fisheries Policy and the EU Budget provided implications for the Common Agricultural Policy. The result of all of this is that the whole policy landscape for how we value and sustainably manage our natural resources has changed. It will take time for us to fully appreciate whether this will lead to more or less wildlife...