1. Introduction – Our Experience

1.1 Context

1. After a century of energy that was (roughly) on tap through the simple expedient of burning the fuels when we needed them, we are returning to an earlier era where balancing energy supply and demand is more challenging.
2. We could simply internalise the climate externality through a carbon price, and leave it to the price mechanism to discover the best ways to clear the market. But governments are not generally willing to be so laissez-faire. They are determined to set out how the market should clear, not only in terms of the levels (prices and volumes) but also in terms of the technologies and the contributions that they should make.
3. Our experience is that this is a mistake. Summerleaze has been involved in renewable energy for 40 years.