Miliband hails carbon capture plans as essential if UK is to ‘decarbonise without deindustrialising’
Energy minister Ed Miliband has described the government’s plans for carbon capture and storage as “exciting” and the beginning of a new era for Britain.
Miliband said the new plans were “essential if we are to decarbonise without deindustrialising”, and were exciting because it showed that the new Labour government is “willing to invest in the future of Britain”.
He told listeners of the Radio 4 Today programme that “create good jobs of the future, as the good jobs used to exist in coal” and help bring about energy security.
Asked about critics who say carbon capture is a misstep, and the country should be getting out of the fossil fuel market altogether, he said that in order to head towards net zero, “we need all the technologies at our disposal,” and said the country was heading for “the biggest change in 200 years in the way we run our economy.”
Miliband said:
The backbone of our system will be renewables, right? That is the absolute backbone of our system. You will also have nuclear as part of the energy mix, long duration storage, batteries. But it is also important to have a strategic reserve.
Key events
While we are talking about the environment, my colleague Damian Carrington, our environment editor, has just published this article, looking at a study in which researchers found that people are significantly more willing to reduce their own carbon footprint if they see political leaders doing the same.
Ed Miliband concedes government needs to do more to persuade people to switch to EVs
Energy minister Ed Miliband has conceded that the government needs to do more to persuade people to switch to EVs, after plans were criticised by industry bosses.
Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, the energy minister said:
There’s two particular problems that I would identify. The first problem is that the last government pushed the date back to 2035, and that was part of what has screwed the market a bit, and that’s why we are clear about the 2030 phase out date for new petrol and diesel vehicles.
The second thing that’s got to be done, and actually, this is the biggest thing, is to get this charging infrastructure right. Because I think one of the worries people have is, is the charging infrastructure going to be there? Am I going to be ripped off in the charging infrastructure?
Miliband went on to say that “we’re working on a plan with across government to make sure that we have the charging infrastructure in place that we need.”
Arguing that “things are only going in one direction, which is towards EVs” he said the country could either “go slowly, lose that competitivity, and not meet our climate targets, or we can do the right thing and drive forward with this.”
Ed Miliband boasts of new government’s drive towards renewable energy
Speaking on the Radio 4 Today programme, energy minister Ed Miliband has boasted that the new Labour government has already set an impressive track record on renewable energy, and said they had been “driving forward” with it since coming to office.
He told listeners:
We’ve been driving forward with renewables since we came into office. We overturned the onshore wind ban. We consented to more solar in less than three months than the last government did in 14 years. We just had the most successful renewable auction in UK history.
Miliband hails carbon capture plans as essential if UK is to ‘decarbonise without deindustrialising’
Energy minister Ed Miliband has described the government’s plans for carbon capture and storage as “exciting” and the beginning of a new era for Britain.
Miliband said the new plans were “essential if we are to decarbonise without deindustrialising”, and were exciting because it showed that the new Labour government is “willing to invest in the future of Britain”.
He told listeners of the Radio 4 Today programme that “create good jobs of the future, as the good jobs used to exist in coal” and help bring about energy security.
Asked about critics who say carbon capture is a misstep, and the country should be getting out of the fossil fuel market altogether, he said that in order to head towards net zero, “we need all the technologies at our disposal,” and said the country was heading for “the biggest change in 200 years in the way we run our economy.”
Miliband said:
The backbone of our system will be renewables, right? That is the absolute backbone of our system. You will also have nuclear as part of the energy mix, long duration storage, batteries. But it is also important to have a strategic reserve.
Welcome and opening summary …
Good morning and welcome to our rolling coverage of UK politics for Friday. Here are your headlines …
The Post Office Horizon IT inquiry is sitting, but none of the legislative bodies in the UK are. Health secretary Wes Streeting will be speaking at the Royal College of GPs conference in Liverpool, and the prime minister’s carbon capture speech will be at 10.45am. We’ll bring you all the key lines as they develop throughout the day.
It is Martin Belam with you today. If you want to get in touch with me, and I do find it helpful if people point out typos, errors and ommissons, you can reach me at martin.belam@theguardian.com