5th November 2009A further major step forward for the Microgeneration sector took place yesterday as The Green Energy Bill yesterday cleared all its Parliamentary stages. The Bill will require the government to conduct a root and branch overhaul of Microgeneration policy in the UK, as well as allowing air source heat pumps and micro-wind turbines (below a certain size and provided they are quiet enough) to be installed on the majority of domestic dwellings without planning permission. The Bill was promoted by Peter Ainsworth MP and supported universally by the Government and the main opposition front benches. Whilst industry today welcomed the Bill as a positive step forward, it has come too late to save several hundred jobs at a leading micro-wind turbine company in Scotland, which the Government sent to the wall in September amid its own failure to fulfil countless promises to slash necessary red tape. The passage of the Bill also tops five years of relentless and successful campaigning for the industry’s leading body for the promotion of Microgeneration, the Micropower Council. Dave Sowden, Chief Executive of the Micropower Council said: “Once again, Parliament has unequivocally recognised the importance of microgeneration in helping to create green jobs, engage citizens in their use of energy, enhancing reliability of energy supply and cutting harmful emissions of greenhouse gases. “We thank Ministers David Kidney, Joan Ruddock and Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, and previously Mike O’Brien for lending government support to the Bill. We also thank Peter Ainsworth for his unfaltering support for this industry over many years”. “We look forward to working with the Government in the coming year in achieving a national strategy for the sector that we hope will make microgeneration accessible to the millions. “In the case of Permitted Development it is however extremely disappointing it has taken Private Members legislation to force the government into action it promised it would take four years ago. In the case of one company, the Government’s failure to fulfil the Prime Minister’s written personal promise to one company to cut red tape has left the hundreds of people associated with that company without employment in what could be a world-beating pioneering British success story.” The promoter of the Bill, Peter Ainsworth, and the Conservative MP for East Surrey said: ““I sincerely hope this Bill becomes a valuable tool in decentralising our energy consumption, empowering people to play their own part in our battle against climate change, whilst helping with ever rising fuel costs. I believe it will also be of practical use to the micropower industry who can use it as a step towards creating and sustaining thousands of new jobs. Microgeneration is becoming a smart and financially rewarding option for consumers. “The fact the Bill passed through both Houses of Parliament without opposition shows that there is genuine cross-party support to protect our environment for future generations. This Bill will play a small part in tackling climate change making the energy we use more secure, more local and more affordable.” The Green Energy Bill will:
NOTESThe term “Microgeneration” broadly refers to a range of technologies that small users, typically householders can use to produce heat or power from renewable or low carbon sources – the next step beyond energy efficiency measures such as insulation. The industry will be launching a Microgeneration Manifesto setting out its views on what the Strategy should contain at a reception in the House of Commons on November 18th following the Queens speech, addressed by the Energy Minister Lord Hunt. The government’s own figures suggest that up to 7 million homes could have some form of microgeneration installed by 2020, making it an important contributor to EU targets for renewable energy and reductions in CO2 emissions. The government first indicated a willingness to slash planning red tape for householders installing microgeneration in November 2005. It did so for a number of Microgeneration technologies in April 2008, but omitted air source heat pumps and micro-wind pending further work and decisions on noise. Despite a personal written assurance from The Prime Minister himself in August 2008 that the path was now clear to include these important two technologies, the government has failed to make any progress since then, directly resulting directly in a pioneering company going to the wall at a cost of around 300 jobs in the company and its direct supply chain. For further information contact Jane Vaus, 020 7924 0795 or 077480 10447 For further information on Peter Ainsworth MP and the Bill visit or contact Sam Ibbott or call 0207 219 5151 Jane Vaus Head of Media & External Affairs Micropower Council Tel: +44 (0) 207 924 0795 Mob: +44 (0) 7748 010447 Jane Vaus |
