Future Energy Policy Proposals ‘Unwise and Irresponsible’
30 Nov 2007
Government proposals in relation to future energy policy are both 'unwise and irresponsible' because they rule out the nuclear option, Congress General Secretary David Begg will tell a major conference in Dublin tomorrow (December 1).
Speaking to the Energy and Environment conference - which is headlined by former US vice president Al Gore - Mr Begg will condemn the government's explicit exclusion of the nuclear power option from its recent Energy White Paper.
"We do not believe it is either wise or responsible to take this line without a full exploration of the implications for industrial policy, employment and lifestyle. This is not an issue just for the policy making community, it needs the engagement of the wider public as well," Mr Begg will tell the conference.
Mr Begg will also question whether the key assumptions on which the White Paper was based are actually credible. For example, 33 percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2020:
"Is this credible if economic growth remains at 3 percent or above in that period or for any substantial part of it? Is it credible if our population continues to increase as forecast by the CSO up to five and a half million by 2026? Is it credible, given the implications of biofuel for food security, and planning and technical constraints on wind?" Mr Begg will ask.
Mr Begg will use the conference to call for a "frank, open and honest public discourse" on the issue. While Ireland was correct to reject the nuclear option 30 years ago, the situation and circumstances have altered radically.
The government White Paper, he points out, has three key objectives: Security of Supply, Sustainability, Competitiveness - and nuclear power is relevant to all three.
Mr Begg will also strongly criticise EU targets in relation to biofuels, which is for 10 percent of fuel consumption to be achieved from biofuels. However, that would require that we set divert a staggering 72 percent of our arable land from food production to fuel production, which he describes as "neither wise nor ethically justified. We cannot switch huge areas of land from food to biofuel, without exacerbating the fragile food situation globally."
He also says the 'Just in Time' system of mobile warehousing should be banned, as a high energy use, low employment system.
"People do have to confront the hard choices involved. Can we, if we want to avoid nuclear power, accept that optimising economic growth in that context may be necessary rather than maximising it as we have been doing for the last thirteen years? Can we accept the lifestyle choices involved?
"If we made a decision tomorrow to go nuclear it would probably take 10 to 15 years to accomplish it. So what we have here is a medium term issue. It is worth taking the time and effort to get the right decision. The right decision will be the one the people support and getting to that point requires a frank, open and honest public discourse."
ends