The cost of decarbonizing the UK economy, the growth of emerging economies and their expanding energy demands, and the expected future balance of the UK's energy portfolio were among topics discussed in London on 23 June, at a Summit on the future of the UK Energy industry. The UK Energy Summit 2011 brought together industry leaders to look at the most exciting current ideas for technological, policy and business model innovations to shape the future of the UK energy industry. The conference discussion was led by the Energy and Environment Analyst for the BBC, Roger Harrabin. He commented that it was not clear how much investment the different energy sources should receive, and where this investment should come from. Business, government and consumers continued to battle over who should pay for the massive investment that was needed to decarbonize the economy, he said. The importance of the meeting was underlined by the long gestation period from the initial inception stage to the development and commissioning of large energy infrastructure, Harrabin suggested. Such a long time horizon presented unique challenges for the energy sector that made forward planning of vital importance, he added. He pointed out that all but one UK nuclear plant was scheduled to close by 2023, while one third of coal-fired power stations were expected to be closed by 2020.
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