Professor Barry McMullin:

I will make a few remarks in response to all the questions. On energy pricing, I will make what will probably appear to be an unpopular remark, at best: gas, petrol and diesel prices are all too low and need to go up. A term used in the energy industry - "the spark gap" - refers to what is essentially the difference between the price of electricity and the margin for electricity, which is generally more expensive than gas or liquid fuels. The significance of the price gap is that it determines in a big way the economic incentive for people to electrify by switching from direct combustion of fossil fuels - in transport, from combustion engine vehicles; in homes, from boilers to heat pumps; or in industry, from boilers to heat pumps, heat networks or whatever the other option would be. At the moment the spark gap is too high. It is too much cheaper to burn fossil fuels for one's needs. There is not enough of an economic incentive to electrify. Like any gap, it can be addressed from both sides. One could say we need to subsidise the price of electricity and maybe include so-called operational grants as well as capital grants for things like heat pumps so that as well as getting a capital amount, there will also be a reduction in the price of electricity. There is certainly merit in that.