Britain will fail without coal – archive, 1956
The OEEC has delighted Mr Aubrey Jones, the Minister of Fuel and Power, with its report on the future of fuel supplies in Europe (summarised on page 4). The main conclusion of the report is that nuclear energy is only going to make a small contribution to the increased supply of energy that will be needed in the next twenty years.
Europe will be driven to import oil, and even coal on an increasing scale – to an extent that will damage the European balance of payments. For this reason the report argues that investment in coal mining should be carried out on a massive scale.
Mr Jones greeted the report with the words, “A most valuable study of Europe’s problem of keeping pace with the tremendously fast increase in the demand for fuel.” Many of its conclusions are obviously applicable to Britain and would receive the Minister’s careful study. In particular he agreed with the view that it is imperative to counter “the adverse effects which this over-optimism over the role of nuclear energy in the near future is having on recruitment, investment, and scientific development in the coal industry.”
Sir Harold Hartley, chairman of the Commission of Energy which has prepared the report, emphasised this in London yesterday. Banging the table with his open hand he said, “Britain will go down without coal.” He argued, as the report does, that investment in coal is essential. Demand for energy will increase by something like 470 million tons of coal or its equivalent in the next twenty years, while nuclear energy could only be expected to produce the equivalent of 80 million tons of coal a year.
The report also quotes with approval the suggestion that taxation on petrol should be reduced compared with the tax on diesel oil in those countries (which include the United Kingdom) in which the present taxes make it difficult for oil refineries to increase their output of fuel oil.
Sir Harold confirmed yesterday that this was thought to be wise, and said that it had not been made a firm recommendation in the report because of the variation of taxation from one country to another.