Energy
This page highlights some of the current parliamentary material available on energy. This includes select committee reports, briefing papers on current legislation and other subjects produced by the parliamentary research services, and the latest Early Day Motions put down by MPs.
Standard Notes
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 15.05.2012 | Major Infrastructure Planning |
| This note deals with how applications for major infrastructure projects of national importance are decided. | |
| 15.05.2012 | Renewable Heat Incentive |
| Details of the scheme introduced to support renewable heat generation | |
| 15.05.2012 | Smart meters |
| Between 2014 and 2019 more than 50 million new 'smart meters' will be rolled out to 30 million homes and smaller businesses in Britain. These are intended to allow consumers to see and adjust in real time what energy they are using. The Public Accounts Committee considers the challenges associated with roll-out 'huge'. | |
| 11.05.2012 | The forthcoming Energy Bill |
| On the 9 May 2012 the Queen's Speech announced that "My Government will propose reform of the electricity market to deliver secure, clean and affordable electricity and ensure prices are fair'. This will be done through the latest in a line of Energy Bills. | |
| 09.05.2012 | Green Investment Bank |
| The Government has announced the creation of a Green Investment Bank to stimulate investment in green technologie. This note includes details of its role and its location. |
Research Papers
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 11.01.2012 | Daylight Saving Bill: Committee Stage Report |
| This is a report on the House of Commons Committee Stage of the Daylight Saving Bill. | |
| 06.09.2011 | Energy Bill [HL]: Committee Stage Report |
| This is a report on the House of Commons Committee Stage of the Energy Bill. It complements Library Research Paper 11/36 (Energy Bill) prepared for the Commons Second Reading. | |
| 04.05.2011 | Energy Bill [HL] |
| This briefing on the Energy Bill has been prepared for the Second Reading Debate in the House of Commons. The flagship policy in the Bill is the 'Green Deal', a scheme whereby homes would be given finance upfront to make energy efficiency improvements, which would then be paid for by energy bill savings. The Bill would also set up a new obligation on energy companies to help certain groups of consumers with saving energy, who need extra support. The Bill also introduces a range of other measures designed to improve energy efficiency; such as facilitating the roll-out of smart meters, widening access to energy performance certificates and making information on energy bills clearer. The Bill also provides measures designed to help improve energy security, to encourage low carbon generation and to grant additional powers to the Coal Authority to charge for certain services. | |
| 17.02.2010 | Energy Bill: Committee Stage Report |
| This paper summarises the House of Commons Second Reading and Committee Stage proceedings of the Energy Bill. The Bill received its Second Reading on 7 December 2009. It was not amended in Committee. The Bill will introduce an incentive to support up to four carbon capture and storage (CSS) demonstration projects in the UK. CSS is a way of reducing the impact of fossil fuel emissions by capturing carbon dioxide. It will also introduce mandatory support to lower energy bills for the most vulnerable, increase the powers of the industry regulator, Ofgem, and give the Secretary of State the power to ban cross-subsidy between gas and electricity accounts. | |
| 03.12.2009 | Energy Bill. Bill 7 2009-10. |
| The Bill would introduce: a carbon capture and storage incentive to support the construction of up to four UK demonstration projects, to be chosen in a competition; mandatory social price support to lower energy bills (social tariffs) for the most vulnerable, which would replace the current voluntary agreement which expires in 2011. It would also add ensuring security of supply and protecting consumers to the objectives of the regulator, Ofgem; increase the regulator's powers to deal with exploitation of electricity distribution constraints by generators; and increase Ofgem's power to fine companies. It would give the Secretary of State the power to ban cross-subsidy between gas and electricity accounts. |
Select Committee Reports
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 19.07.2011 | Ofgem Retail Market Review. |
| Energy and Climate Change Select Committee report [Commons] | |
| 19.07.2011 | Shale gas. |
| Government response. Energy and Climate Change Select Committee; Department of Energy and Climate Change report [Commons] | |
| 10.05.2011 | Shale gas. |
| Energy and Climate Change Select Committee report [Commons] | |
| 18.01.2011 | The revised draft national policy statements on energy. |
| Energy and Climate Change Select Committee report [Commons] | |
| 15.03.2010 | The sale of the government's interest in British Energy. |
| Public Accounts Committee report [Commons] |
Early Day Motions
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 10.01.2012 | BIG ENERGY WEEK |
| That this House supports Big Energy Week, which runs from 16 to 21 January 2012 and is designed to help consumers to save money on their energy bills; notes that the recent rises in ... | |
| 14.12.2011 | FISCAL INCENTIVES FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY |
| That this House welcomes the recommendation by the Environmental Audit Committee in its July 2011 report Budget 2011 and Environmental Taxes that `the Government should consider providing ... | |
| 01.12.2011 | GREEN DEAL AND VAT |
| That this House recognises the overall costs of the Green Deal to consumers including product costs, interest rates and value added tax (VAT) will have an impact on future Green Deal ... | |
| 14.11.2011 | RAISE THE RATE CAMPAIGN ON DEBT BLOCKING OF PRE-PAID METER CUSTOMERS |
| <p>That this House calls on Ofgem urgently to raise the level of debt below which pre-paid meter (PPM) customers can switch their energy supplier from the current level of 200 to 350, ... | |
| 18.10.2011 | ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND CARBON REDUCTIONS |
| That this House believes it is essential that the UK Parliament passes all necessary legislation to ensure a great reduction in the nation's current carbon emission levels, improve ... |
Lords Library Notes
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 08.01.2010 | Debate on 14th January: The Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change. LLN 2010/001 |
| Debate on 14th January: The Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change. This Library Note aims to provide background reading for the debate to be held on Thursday 14th January: 'To call attention to the outcome of the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change' The UN Conference on Climate Change took place in Copenhagen from 7th-19th December 2009. This Note explains the significance of the Conference in the context of previous international agreements on climate change, sets out the major disagreements that marred the negotiating process in Copenhagen and summarises the key elements contained in the final Copenhagen Accord. It considers analysis of the Accord's achievements and shortcomings, and summarises the reactions of key nations and interest groups. |
POST Papers
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 15.05.2012 | Bioenergy |
| Bioenergy is the use of renewable natural material for power, heat and liquid fuels. Currently, the UK sources approximately 3% of its primary energy from bioenergy feedstocks. This POSTnote considers the opportunities and challenges of producing bioenergy sustainably to meet greenhouse gas reduction targets. | |
| 15.05.2012 | Assessing Energy Efficiency |
| This POSTnote examines definitions of energy efficiency, looks at methods to measure and verify achieved energy savings and summarises UK and EU polices to promote energy efficiency. | |
| 16.02.2012 | Low Carbon Technologies for Energy-Intensive Industries |
| Energy-intensive industries such as chemicals, paper, ceramics, cement, iron and steel are responsible for 45% of carbon emissions from businesses and the public sector in the UK. This briefing discusses carbon dioxide (CO2) abatement technologies for these industries and policies to support their adoption. | |
| 25.01.2012 | Solar Photovoltaics |
| Solar power has the potential to provide low carbon electricity and to generate employment. This POSTnote discusses the development of solar power in the UK and summarises debate over feed-in tariffs - financial support policies introduced in 2010 to stimulate take-up. | |
| 23.01.2012 | Measuring Energy Security |
| This POSTnote explores ways in which energy security may be measured for monitoring purposes. | |
| 15.09.2011 | Anaerobic digestion |
| This POSTnote examines the potential for anaerobic digestion in the UK and the main challenges connected with its development. |
