The Energy White Paper Of 2003

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

The Energy White Paper of 2003 presented the UK government's new energy policy which would consolidate that ''energy, the environment and economic growth are properly and sustainably integrated''. To begin with, taking into account the fact that Energy is a very long term investment, the achievement of any goals was set to the checkpoint of 2050. There were four key points that direct this new policy. Firstly, the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions (One of the main contributors to global warming) by 60% by 2050 but with significant progress by 2020. Secondly the reliability of energy supplies, adding the possibility of upgrading the UK infrastructure. Thirdly, the promotion of competitive markets in the UK and beyond, in order to provide higher rates of sustainable economic growth and increase productivity. Last but not least, the reassurance that every home would be adequately and affordably heated.

There is a number of reasons that drove the UK towards these decisions. First and foremost, the reduction of CO2 emissions which would obviously lead to better climate conditions, thus providing better quality of life and sustainability for the environment. Secondly, the need to secure more and more reliable energy sources. A large part of the energy consumed in the UK (about 43%) is produced by almost 40 other countries. This stands true both for fossil fuels and nuclear fuels needed. Therefore, the UK needed to disentangle from this dependency. Furthermore, traditional fossil fuels are expected to diminish in the near future which gives an opportunity for the UK to become a leader in sustainable energy production and provide economic growth and increased productivity due to economic gains by exporting that energy. This in turn, would ascertain that every citizen in the UK will enjoy the benefits reaped, in the form of cheap and reliable energy.

Four years later, the Energy White Paper of 2009 came into existence. This was set out to address two long term energy challenges. The first one was preventing further climate change by reducing carbon dioxide emissions within the UK and abroad. The second one was to ensure secure, clean and affordable energy as the UK became increasingly dependent on imported fuel. The paper proposed to meet these challenges through saving energy, developing cleaner energy supplies, and securing reliable supplies of energy at prices set in competitive markets. Alongside pushing for international agreements on higher standards of energy efficiency, the UK was to take domestic action in order to help meet the EU target of a 20% saving in energy consumption through energy efficiency by 2020. Existing energy saving policies were set to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 10 MtC by 2010, accounting for 40% of annual UK carbon savings. By 2020 these same policies should provide a reduction of 12-13 MtC compared to a business as usual scenario. Nuclear power investment remains an option for private sector companies. RTFO is about to be introduced in order to achieve lower carbon footprint in transport. Likewise, ETS would be introduced in order to contribute in development and demonstration of new technologies. To add, publication of the government's  Biomass Strategy which seeks to realise a major expansion in the supply and use of biomass in the UK, was made. Additionally, it was determined that security of supply can be achieved by maximising economic production from fossil fuel reserves, improving gas and electricity delivery systems and formulating effective international markets along with improved investment framework. The white paper identified further savings that could be made in the Household, Business and Public sectors, and the policies to do so (e.g. ''smart'' meters).

As with the Energy White Paper of 2003, there is an obvious environmental driver behind the decisions of the Energy White Paper of 2007. In this case though, social and economic reasons are apparent. In addition, there is an obvious need to place all countries under the same policy, so that decisions and directives of each country are judged on the same level, in order to achieve a universal goal. Moving on, it is ever more apparent that oil and gas reserves of the UK are rapidly declining and the country needs to avoid becoming a full energy importer. More to the point, becoming the protagonist of the renewable energy era is the main driver here. This explains the more holistic approach -regarding energy consumption reduction- given in this White Paper.

Following the two Energy White Papers, the UK Renewable Energy Strategy of 2009 came into existence, including a package of measures to support the achievement of the targets set by the previous Energy White Papers .These measures included changes to the RO for the large scale renewable generation as well as changes to the RTFO, in order to increase the use of sustainable biofuels. In addition, a renewable heat incentive (RHI) was introduced to support the use of renewable heat. This was aimed towards large industrial sites as well as households and came into the form of payments per kWh of heat produced. Furthermore, Feed in Tariffs were introduced, to offer financial support for low carbon electricity projects (up to 5MW). Moreover, the Office for Renewable Energy Deployment (ORED) was established in order to support renewable energy supply chains and the use of renewable energy in the planning system. Additionally, the 2009 RES suggested greater support towards developing key technologies of the renewable energy, like wave and tidal, through increased investment and general improvements to offshore technology. Last but not least, the South West was identified as a Low Carbon Economic Zone suitable for marine development.

Similar to the two White Papers, the 2009 RES seems to be driven by environmental reasons, first and foremost. UK is still missing the goals set for 2020 and eventually 2050. It is obvious that it needs to reach these goals and this can only be achieved by encouraging -someone would say forcing- the extensive use of renewables with various measures, like RO, RTFO, RHI, ORED. The main detachment in this case is that there is a substantial socio-economic dimension given to the decisions made. It is clearly understood that the UK wants to become self-sufficient in the energy department by investing in ''reliable'' renewable energy supplies but at the same time there seems to be an attempt to involve the whole of the population and industry towards the completion of this goal. It is obvious that the State alone is not enough and the citizens must be sensitized so that there is a total acceptance of the renewables, not as an alternative but as the main source of energy for the UK in the near future.