‘We have to get regulation back into the political debate’, Ed Davey MP tells Heat 2018

Former UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Rt Hon Sir Edward Davey MP advocated ‘strong, tough and increasing regulations’ which are ‘on the side of innovation’, in his keynote address to Heat and Decentralised Energy 2018, hosted jointly by the EI and the Association for Decentralised Energy in November. A ‘clear policy framework’ is needed, he said, but believed the government ‘hasn’t moved beyond principles’. 

 

Under the theme ‘Terminal Velocity – Setting the pace in energy innovation and policy’, Heat 2018 gathered speakers from government, industry and NGOs to explore how the energy system is reacting to the increasing pace of technological change and a growing pressure to make deep emissions cuts in domestic, commercial and industrial heat. 

 

Speaking alongside was Stefan Håkansson, Global Director for City Energy Solutions, E.ON – who shared how E.ON is playing an active role in the transition to a sustainable and decentralised energy world. He stated that ‘local cooperation is the way’ to lower emissions. The future of energy is, he said, not large-scale production and generation but about ‘managing the system together with the customer need’. 

 

EI Chief Executive Louise Kingham opened the conference, held at the Siemens’ Crystal – one of the world’s most sustainable buildings. She noted the achievements in the power sector since the introduction of the Climate Change Act, and called for industry, government and others to ‘work together’ in order to bring about serious change in heat and transport.

Other speakers included ADE Director, Dr Tim Rotheray who gave a talk entitled ‘The Death of the Kilowatt Hour’ where he spoke about energy being a service with energy providers standing alongside the customer to meet their needs rather than working against them. Tim also spoke about the ‘absence of trust and vilification of the energy system’ resulting in counterproductive energy policy.

The conference also heard from Chris Stark, Chief Executive of the Committee on Climate Change who was interviewed by John Moylan, former BBC Industry and Employment Correspondent.