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It鈥檚 a cold comfort, but If the lights go out in this winter, at least we鈥檒l have someone to blame. That someone is Malcolm Wicks, the MP for Croydon North and minister for energy at the DTI: he鈥檚 responsible for ensuring that we will have affordable and sustainable energy well into the future.

Wicks, who became minister in May this year, could not have chosen more interesting times to take on this job. Britain鈥檚 North Sea oil supplies are running down, her nuclear power stations are wearing out, energy consumption is increasing, fuel prices are soaring and last week Wicks had to admit 鈥� after a warning by the CBI 鈥� that if we are struck by a particular cold winter, fuel shortages could force businesses to shut down.

By his own admission, the energy situation in the UK is serious: 鈥淟ast year we became a net importer of gas and in a few years we will be a net importer of oil because of the long-term decline of the stocks in the North Sea.鈥� Nuclear power contributes 20% of Britain鈥檚 electricity but Wicks knows that this will fall to 7% by 2020. He also knows he has to meet the UK鈥檚 target of a 20% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2010.

Right now Wicks has placed every reasonable option on the table, including renewable energy, new-build nuclear and even coal-fired power stations that capture the CO2 they produce, allowing it to be stored in such places as under the North Sea.

Wicks is already committed to renewable energy. A recent energy white paper mentioned a target of producing 10% of our national energy from renewables by 2010, a figure that rises to an aspirational target of 20% 10 years later. 鈥淭hat represents an ambitious programme,鈥� says Wicks. He is particularly interested in promoting wind power: 鈥淎t the moment, in practice, the wind turbine is the most advanced technology when it comes to renewables.鈥�

But his enthusiasm for wind turbines has upset many in the photovoltaics industry, who accuse him of favouritism. Wicks鈥� response is unapologetic: 鈥淚鈥檓 a bit dismissive of people who say 鈥榥ow you are promoting this and that, it means bad news for us鈥�. I just think that is slightly pathetic really and I see a major role for photovoltaics. It still needs some support, and it has already had a good deal of support.鈥�

North Sea oil supplies are running down, nuclear power stations are wearing out, energy consumption is increasing and fuel prices are soaring 鈥�

Whichever renewable technology wins through, Wicks is determined that the wider goal of encouraging the microgeneration of energy in buildings should succeed. The government will be launching a funding initiative for its low carbon buildings programme in April, but when asked for more details Wicks says only that there will be an announcement later in the year as to how much money will be available and how it will be allocated: 鈥淲e will just have to wait and see what that says.鈥� One thing is certain, though: there will be a greater focus on large developments rather than individual householders.

Another thing that Wicks is unequivocal about is the responsibility of the individual householder to improving the energy efficiency of their homes. 鈥淥ne of the reasons why I鈥檓 personally enthusiastic about micro power is partly the symbolic and educational value of enabling individuals and communities to become part of the solution, with more householders thinking that micro turbines and photovoltaics are for them,鈥� he says.

He is equally clear that if householders want to install these technologies they, and not the government, will have to pay for it. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to get into a grants culture 鈥� after all, many householders are pretty well off people and they think nothing of buying a car, a plasma television screen or the third iPod,鈥� he says. 鈥淗ow can we get those people as interested in micropower? Or on a more mundane but even more important level, just insulating their loft space? I haven鈥檛 got an answer to this question but it is very much on my mind at the moment.鈥�

People are also going to have to get used to large-scale energy generation projects on their doorsteps. Wicks has just given the go ahead for 26 wind turbines occupying 1000 acres of the Romney Marsh in Kent 鈥� amid howls of protest. In defence of the project, Wicks says: 鈥淲ales and Scotland are very good places for wind turbines but the South-east has got to play a role in this. We may see more wind farms in the South-east in areas like the Thames Estuary, although I can鈥檛 prejudge anything.鈥�

If the public is ambivalent about wind farms, it knows its own mind when it comes to nuclear power: it is deeply hostile. Although Wicks maintains that he is 鈥済enuinely nuclear-neutral鈥�, he says: 鈥淲e have got to look at nuclear again with an open mind and proper scientific scrutiny. We鈥檝e got to look at people鈥檚 fears and the advantages of nuclear in terms of it being a clean, UK-produced energy source and we鈥檝e got to look at the downside in terms of the waste issues, public fears, the cost issues and who is going to pay for it.鈥�

We鈥檝e got to look at nuclear with an open mind. We have to look at people鈥檚 fears and the advantages of nuclear in terms of it being a clean energy source

Wicks reckons that slightly more people are against than for nuclear power but he is presumably hoping that the large, undecided group of people in the middle will come out in support should the government opt for more nuclear power stations. He sees public support as vital to the success of any nuclear programme.

But even if a nuclear programme gets past the protesters, there is still the sticky question of who will actually pay for it. 鈥淚t will have to be funded by private investment,鈥� says Wicks. 鈥淲e have a market economy in energy so we no longer fund major infrastructure for gas or electricity, and we are not going to be in the business of doing that for nuclear new build.鈥� But Wicks concedes that the expense of such a nuclear programme will necessitate some kind of government support. 鈥淲hat we will need is a very special relationship between the market and the state,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 do recognise that the economics of nuclear is one of the crunch issues that will have to be looked at.鈥�

Even if Wicks gets the public support he needs and works out a special relationship with the private sector, there is still the planning hurdle to overcome. It took six years to get planning permission for Sizewell B, the UK鈥檚 last nuclear power station. Factor in the time to build it 鈥� another seven years 鈥� and the lights will have gone out long before the first of the new stations comes online.

But Wicks has other ideas. 鈥淚f we go down the nuclear route then how we can speed up planning and other relevant consents should be part of the agenda. That鈥檚 not to say these things can be done in a couple of years but it shouldn鈥檛 be beyond the wit of us to think of ways of reducing the timescale.鈥�

Whatever Wicks decides he faces intense months of lobbying by the groups with a particular interest in the technologies being considered. In fact, the lobbyists are already queuing up: manufacturers body the Engineers Employer Federation has just published figures saying nuclear power is cheaper than gas, wind farms or coal, and a group of MPs from coal mining areas are waiting to see Wicks as the interview concludes 鈥�

Malcolm Wicks