Responding to today’s announcement, Martin Temple, Director General of EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation said:
"This is the only response possible to the dual challenge of energy supply and climate change. The Government should be applauded for setting out a balanced strategy and grasping the nuclear nettle.
"To build on this it is now vital that we develop mechanisms at both national and European level to encourage all sections of the economy to improve their energy efficiency and send out a positive signal to potential investors in low carbon sources of energy."
But, EEF believes that today’s announcement should not obscure the need to address some pressing issues before these new sources come on stream, such as developing storage facilities that prevent the UK from becoming dangerously reliant on imported gas. EEF will also be pressing the government to ensure any measures on emissions trading do not put British business at a competitive disadvantage.
Despite its mainly positive response, EEF criticised the absence of measures to address the UK’s woeful levels of energy R&D which remains significantly lower than our competitors. EEF analysis shows the UK spends just 0.02% of GDP on energy R&D. This is a tenth of what is spent in the United States and below all EU 15 members except Portugal.