IN a debate about biomass power generation, Thurrock MP Jackie Doyle-Price praised Tilbury power station and its conversion from coal-fired to biomass and challenged the Government to do more to tackle EU directives and to worry more about Energy and less about climate change.
Jackie said, “I am proud to represent Tilbury, which is in my constituency and has what is currently the world’s largest dedicated biomass power station. The history of Tilbury is interesting, because the power station was until very recently coal-fired, and it has been generating sufficient power for the whole of Essex for the past 50 years. However, the large combustion plant directive finished off Tilbury as a coal-fired power station, and I know that my hon. Friend the Minister will be very aware of how much impact the directive is having on our power generation capability.
At its peak, Tilbury employed 750 people—today it employs 250, all in very highly skilled jobs—and it generated more than 1,000 MW, which is enough to power 1 million homes. In its 50 years of operation, it never breached its environmental licence. That prompts the question, although we implement EU directives with very good intentions, in terms of reducing emissions, when we look at the detail of the impact, are we really hitting the right things when we are looking at tackling climate change and environmentalism? I just put that out there. It is not unusual for the European Union to get things very badly wrong.
With over a third of our existing generating capacity due to close by the end of this decade, clearly, more investment in renewable and low-carbon technology is required—and quickly—so that, in future, we have a secure energy supply, a lower-carbon energy supply and an affordable energy supply. That is why we need to unlock the supply challenges quickly, because without increasing supply, the impact will be on price, and our most vulnerable consumers will be hit.
I know the Minister does not require too much encouragement in this regard, but I would like to highlight how much this issue illustrates what happens when Governments fail to fight our corner in Europe. I can see a situation coming down the track very quickly where we will be forced to buy more and more electricity from France, in particular, because the regulatory system has favoured nuclear over coal. We all want cleaner, greener energy, but we need to keep the lights on, and we need to make sure that people can afford to heat their homes. For our own energy security, therefore, we need to make the most of the potential of biomass as an energy source, given its generating potential, and given how much more of our domestic demand we will be able to supply.
It is telling that coal-fired power stations are being built in Germany, when we have made coal completely uneconomic in this country. When we are dealing with private investors and expecting them to invest billions of pounds so that we can keep our lights on, we must recognise that they are not in it for charity, and we must enable them to facilitate that investment in the best way we can. To put it bluntly, the Department has, hitherto, been not enough about energy and rather too much about climate change. I believe that really has to change.”
[…] Doyle-Price tells govt to “worry more about energy and less about climate change […]
I wrote to JD-P asking for her support for Tim Yeo’s ‘green jobs’ amendment to the Energy Bill for a watertight target for carbon free energy production. Her reply was dismissive and arrogant. She may not have agreed with my point of view and I would have accepted her saying she couldn’t support the amendment due to her own feelings but the tone of her letter was appalling. It is increasingly obvious to me that she doesn’t care whether any of her constituents agree with the amendment or any other issue, if she doesn’t agree, she won’t put the opposing view across.
The MP is honest about her own opinion and not trying to please everyone? Don’t you normally criticise her for being a mindless drone who follows the party line? Can’t win.
sycophant
Your so far up her up behind
I do not know where Jackie Finishes and you start
Lets hope it gets you where you want
Wow, ad hominem attacks accomplish so much don’t they? The last refuge of somebody with not much to say. Meanwhile, back to the article… the MP is correct in what she says, there has been far too much money spent on fictitious anthropogenic global warming (actually, because it’s a load of hogwash they’ve changed it to climate change which, when you think of it, is even more absurd) and nowhere near enough on securing our energy needs. Forget the ‘green’ nonsense, we need to keep our coal power stations open and we need to exploit shale gas to the maximum.
All the same it’s the truth though
Gotta say I agree with Gray64.
The less money spent on climate change/global warming the better. We should go back to producing our own energy rather than being charged a fortune by European suppliers who make sure that they keep prices down in their own countries.
It would be great if the government stopped the tap that is foriegn aid too!
Lets hope that Jackie’s voting record since being elected will show she has actively opposed and voted against all her Government’s ‘Green Tax’ hikes, subsidies to renewable energy, and voted against carbon credits, climate change levies etc etc etc – otherwise her comments just show she is a complate hypocrite.
In politics you cant campaign against something to your residents and then vote the other way in Parliament or the council chamber.
Ed, I think your hope may be forlorn! Hypocrisy is lesson 1:01 for politicians it seems.
Wow, ad hominem attacks accomplish so much don’t they? The last refuge of somebody with not much to say
Got you to reply didn’t It I’m trying to make out where you are on this grey your saying the climate change is all cobblers then your saying Jackie Doyle Price is a hypocrite but lets thank that other staunch lovely lady Margaret Thatcher for not having enough coal in the first place for power stations after the disgusting way she treated the coal miners in this country which is still under investigation to this day
Hot Press, I am sure you are trying to make a point but I have no idea what it is. Just so as you know, climate change is one subject and hypocrisy of MP’s is a different subject. D’ya see? You can’t conflate the two. Also, what has Margaret Thatcher got to do with anything I said? I think you’ll find that you are conflating issues again. She had to break the power of the unions in this Country to get it back on it’s feet after the ruinous 70’s. Coal was then, and to a large extent still is, king. We still have plenty of coal reserves but it’s currently not economical to extract it. Two different issues. Got that?
Steady down grey you will blow an o-ring it was you who mentioned about we need more coal power stations and if Margaret thatcher hadn’t been quite as militant with the miners and ruined people’s life up north in whole communities nice person she wasn’t perhaps she wouldn’t be hated by 90% of the country
Oh, I see. The Thatcher stuff is totally irrelevant but I get what you’re saying.