Zero carbon emissions by 2050 target set by States
A TARGET of net zero carbon emissions by the year 2050 was set by the States today, as members resoundingly approved the energy policy for the next 30 years.
In addition to this long-term emissions target, members also backed setting a target for the generation of renewable energy by the second quarter of next year.
And the principle of a direct cable link from the island to France was also agreed, and Guernsey Electricity will now be able to prepare a full business case to take back to the Assembly.
Just before Environment & Infrastructure president Barry Brehaut summed up today, committee member Deputy Sarah Hansmann Rouxel urged members, who she described as 'enthusiastic amateurs', not to leap on all renewable energy ideas and to let the experts develop them.
She stressed the need to accept the report: 'The foundations in this policy letter are vitally important,' she said.
In replying to a point raised by Deputy Lester Queripel yesterday, Deputy Brehaut said that Guernsey Electricity had been in contact with its Alderney counterparts and those involved with the tidal power project in the island.
He and several members had spoken about the need or otherwise for competition in the electricity market, and Deputy Brehaut reminded them that the island had only one power grid which others, in particular the International Energy Group, wanted to access.
He pointed out that the energy policy would see the States supporting the conditions for competition through a new licensing framework.
Accepting it was integral to recovery: 'It's important that when we go into recovery we will need continuity of supply for 21st Century enterprises,' he said, adding that this would also involve meeting decarbonisation targets.
He believed the island could move more rapidly towards this target, and he said that the market outside the island, with its goals and regulations, assisted Guernsey in its efforts to decarbonise: 'I think that we forget sometimes that the market around us dictates change,' he said.
All of the 18 propositions were approved, with only Deputy Barry Paint voting against the idea of setting a target for the on-island generation of renewable energy and Deputies David De Lisle and Lester Queripel rejecting agreeing the principle of a second cable to France and agreeing the principle of changing the island's standard for power generation towards requiring fewer generators once the new cable is installed.
