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Renewable industry experts to appear at Lords sub-committee

Energy policy experts and a representative of the renewable energy industry will appear before the House of Lords Agriculture, Fisheries, Environment and Energy EU Sub-Committee on Wednesday 28 November as part of their inquiry into how EU energy can be decarbonised while keeping a lid on costs and helping to boost EU jobs and growth.

In its first session, at 11am, the Committee will be hearing from professor Peter Cameron, professor of international energy law and policy and director of the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy at the University of Dundee.

The Committee will be asking professor Cameron what legal barriers exist to improving interconnection between Member States and how these may be overcome; whether lessons can be learnt in the UK from other EU countries, such as Germany, which has made a clear commitment to moving from nuclear to renewable energy and what his views are on how further eastern enlargement of the EU will impact on EU energy policy.

Following on, at 12pm, the Committee will question Dr Gordon Edge, director of policy at renewableUK and Dr Robert Gross, director of the Centre for Energy Policy and Technology; policy director at the Energy Future Lab and head of the UK Energy Research Council’s Technology and Policy assessment function.

The witnesses are likely to face questions on issues including whether the Emissions Trading System (ETS) could deliver a significant contribution to boosting renewable energy; the impact on energy pricing of increasing globalisation; what form any policy and financial incentives for renewable energy should take and what will happen to the EU’s long term climate goals if action is not taken now to boost renewable energy.

The evidence sessions will take place on Wednesday 28 November from 11am in Committee Room 3A.