According to the UK Independence Party website UKIP will try to achieve the following if they gain power at the 2010 general election:
12.1 UKIP would encourage more efficient use of energy using a strategic policy framework within which market mechanisms would operate. Energy conservation requirements within existing building regulations would be retained, but we would review aspects of the regulations that are ineffective, or that reduce the options for how to use existing buildings.
We would promote energy saving in other sectors of the economy, such as transport and business, through a mix of regulation and incentives, recognising that we must rely ultimately upon education and the enlightened self-interest of users. This policy would be encouraged through the commissioning of TV programmes explaining the benefits and savings to be made. As a long-term educational exercise, we would encourage schools to include instruction in effective energy saving and the avoidance of waste, as well as the efficient use of resources.
12.2 We support further development of the many potentially valuable forms of renewable energy, and would ensure that new schemes for distributed electricity generation from proven renewable sources can be connected to the national transmission grid without unnecessary impediment. But we believe that all the costs involved in renewable energy sources must be taken into account, so that there is no case for subsidising further schemes such as large-scale wind generation.
12.3 Fossil fuels will continue to be a major source of energy for the foreseeable future. Liquid fossil fuels will continue to be the most convenient and economic source of power in transport applications, such as aircraft, cars, trains and trucks though, as the economics become more favourable, we would support further development work on non-fossil alternatives such as electric, hydrogen, hybrid and fuel-cell vehicle propulsion systems. For short journeys, the electric or hydrogen-cell vehicle, refuelled overnight with cheap nuclear-generated electricity, is an exciting concept which UKIP supports.
12.4 Biofuel crops, while potentially of value in appropriate circumstances, have downsides, such as destruction of important habitats, taking land out of production for food, requiring energy and resources in cultivation, transport and processing, damaging the soil or requiring excessive water use. However, UKIP would certainly encourage the use of suitable waste biomass material, for example as supplementary fuel for coal power stations.
I would be interested to hear both positive and negative views on UK Independence Party’s Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy Sources policies in the comments below?