t’s an ambitious target and one that the government is on course to miss. The UK is currently committed to getting 15 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, under the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive.
There are new questions this evening over the future of Britain’s planned nuclear power programme after Toshiba reported multi-million pound losses, triggering the resignation of its chairman.
The globe-trotting boss of a giant energy firm with substantial interests in Russia is in line to become America’s next secretary of State, as Donald Trump named Exxon-Mobil chief Rex Tillerson as his choice.
With temperatures tonight falling as low as minus nine, campaigners are warning that four million households in Britain are still struggling to afford heating, causing illness, anxiety and affecting their chances throughout life.
This certainly is a pivotal moment. Mr Trump’s plans for energy, climate policy and trade will have an enormous impact, not just on the US, but the rest of the world. With me now to make sense of it all, our Business Editor Siobhan Kennedy and our Science Editor Tom Clarke.
Siobhan Kennedy
British Gas has announced a five per cent cut in gas prices which will come into effect at the end of February, although it fails to match the scale of the drop in the wholesale price of gas in recent months.
Gary Gibbon
The EU has been locked in talks over more sanctions on Russia. They should include an assessment of how badly the City could be hit by restrictions on Russian banks seeking capital.
Kylie Morris
Williston, North Dakota, is attracting thousands of workers keen to make their millions from fracking. But as the economy is on the up, the town has been hit by a rise in crime, drug use and rape.
Jon Snow
Europe’s collective energy needs are startling, and the only available options terrifying. We are going to abandon most of our sustainable energy targets.
Jon Snow
After losing power twice over the Christmas break, this newsman finds himself a minor statistic in one of the week’s top stories. Now we know what a rainy day feels like.
Gary Gibbon
The boss from Ovo cheeked his bigger energy cousins for remorseless “filibustering” of accounts and said he didn’t know how their wholesale energy costs got so high.
Ed Miliband’s cunning and unconventional gambit is offering a seeming solution to the public, and the Coalition is debating its response.
Ed Davey says that without Hinkley C, we’re all in the dark. FactCheck’s decided to dig in and try and shine a spotlight on the energy secretary’s claims.
Siobhan Kennedy
It’s hard to escape the fact today that economically, the government appears to be taking a huge gamble with the taxpayer’s purse by signing this deal with China and EDF.
Siobhan Kennedy
The rest of the big six energy companies look likely to follow the lead of Scottish and Southern Energy who announced average price rises of over 8 per cent from next month.