Forum Brief: CO2 emissions
The prime minister's desire to put Britain at the forefront of the battle to cut global warming was expected to receive a dramatic setback on Thursday when figures show that CO2 emissions in the UK rose last year.
Government Response: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Elliot Morley, environment minister, said: "This blip, although disappointing, was expected and does not knock us off the downward trend on emissions. Even on a downward trajectory there will be some variation about the trend from year to year.
"Later this year we will be reviewing the UK Climate Change Programme to assess the potential for strengthening existing policies and measures or introducing new ones to achieve our climate change objectives, including the domestic goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent from 1990 levels by 2010.
"And from 2005 we will be looking to the impact of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, especially in its second five year phase - which will run from 2008-2012 - to cut UK emissions further and move us towards the stated goal of 20 per cent reductions on 1990 levels by 2010."
Party Response: Liberal Democrat
Norman Baker MP, Liberal Democrat environment spokesperson, said: "Despite its promises, the government is going backwards on climate change. We are now way off course to meet our Kyoto targets.
"The principle cause for the rise in carbon emissions is the fact that Labour’s transport policy is out of control.
"Releasing this information before the Easter recess, when MPs will have little chance to discuss the figures, shows that the government knows it has no grasp of the situation.
"Blair’s chief scientific adviser, Sir David King, has warned that climate change is a bigger threat than terrorism. The prime minister would do better to listen to Sir David before he listens to George Bush, leader of the world’s biggest polluters."
Forum Response: BG Group
Margaret Mogford, a spokesperson for the BG Group, told ePolitix.com: "BG Group, a world leader in natural gas, seeks to make a contribution to meeting the challenge of climate change in UK and internationally. Gas is the lowest carbon fossil fuel with 22 per cent less carbon than oil and 40 per cent less than coal and is capable of much higher conversion efficiencies than other fossil fuels. Over 50 per cent efficiency is achieved by combined cycle gas technology (CCGT) compared with approximately 35 per cent for modern coal-fired generation.
"The International Panel on Climate Change states that: 'At least up to 2020, energy supply and conversion will remain dominated by relatively cheap and abundant fossil fuels.' Natural gas, where transmission is economically feasible, will play an important role in emission reduction together with conversion efficiency improvement and greater use of CCGT and co-generation plants.
"In the UK, BG is also pioneering a new domestic system which will revolutionise the way we heat and light our homes. BG's MicroGen unit replaces a conventional boiler to produce central heating and hot water together with 50 per cent of the home's power needs. More importantly, the energy efficiency of the MicroGen unit cuts CO2 emissions by around 1.5 tonnes per average household per year. In a target market of 13 million UK homes, MicroGen and similar technologies could potentially cut CO2 emissions by nearly 20 million tonnes per annum - a significant step towards achieving the UK's original Kyoto reduction target of 88 million tonnes per annum."
Forum Response: Construction Products Association
Rita Singh of the Construction Products Association told ePolitix.com: "Government has recently seen a slight increase in the emissions of carbon dioxide, but has stated that they are still on a downward trend to achieving their national targets as set down in the UK Climate Change Programme.