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Energy Bill

The noble Lord, Lord Teverson, referred to the project he considered introducing on the property where he lives. I was asked by a colleague to look at photovoltaic roof installations. I spoke to a number of suppliers in the market and found huge differences between the cost of photovoltaic roof applications in the United Kingdom and those in the United States of America. We need to pump-prime the renewables market at a microgeneration level, so that larger operators which are capable of supplying the equipment at far lower prices are somehow induced to come into the market and supply it. The educational project to which my noble friend Lord Puttnam referred may be a means of attracting many of them. When I was the MP for a constituency in Cumbria, I often wondered why British Nuclear Fuels, which had a major problem in fostering a reputation for environmental friendliness, did not, with all the technological support systems it had at its disposal, pursue the development of wind farms and wind generation equipment on the same scale as the Danes—through the Vesta equipment—and the Japanese. I am not sure that we have any large-scale wind turbine manufacturers in the United Kingdom capable of competing with those coming in from other parts of the world, although I stand to be corrected. The Government should somehow pump-prime those areas of technology with large-scale procurement projects on the basis that my noble friend suggested. Photovoltaics and wind turbines are just two areas in which they might do so. I hope that we can grasp the nettle. My noble friend said what a waste of money it would be if we spent two years consulting and did not get on with the job and take the big decision. I hope that my noble friend will reflect that in his reply.