Firms forced to resort to dirtier fuels will be treated with 'flexibility'
Industry has been promised that the government will be 'flexible' about
enforcing environmental rules on firms forced to switch to dirty fuels
this winter if their gas is cut off.
As the DTI prepares to hold the latest of a series of crisis-meetings
with business groups this week, firms concerned about their energy
supplies have been given the mobile phone number of a 'fuel switching
coordinator' at the Environment Agency, who will advise them about what
to do if the taps are turned off.
'We have asked the Environment Agency and they will consider
flexibility, so that the winter doesn't have to be any harder than it
has to be,' said a DTI spokesman.
Tony Juniper, executive director of Friends of the Earth, said:
'Instead of encouraging industry to think environmental standards are
flexible, the government should be helping businesses to save energy.'
With predictions of a cold winter, and gas prices at record highs,
industry has repeatedly warned that users could run short. The 'spot'
price of gas - the price for immediate delivery - doubled last week.
CBI director general Digby Jones has raised the spectre of a 'three-day
week', and the Prime Minister was forced to admit in the Commons that
'there will be difficulties with prices'.
A DTI spokesman said this was a 'transition year' - gas production from
British fields has fallen faster than the government had predicted, and
the infrastructure is not yet in place for large-scale, low-cost
importing of gas from overseas. Meanwhile, the heavily regulated
European gas industry has made it hard for British businesses to access
foreign supplies.
Many firms have signed so-called 'interruptible contracts', which give
them a discount but can involve the gas being shut off if supplies are
too tight. Industry groups are predicting that some firms could be
forced to switch to fuel oil or coal, which are more polluting than gas.
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Complete article The Observer
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