UK’s Miliband: We can work with US and China on energy security

LONDON — The U.K. can find a way to work with Donald Trump’s America on energy security while still retaining close cooperation with China on climate and renewables, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said.

Speaking at a London energy summit, Miliband told POLITICO that, despite having a “different perspective” to the Trump administration on the role of fossil fuels in securing energy supply, the U.K. could still collaborate on low-carbon technologies like nuclear and geothermal power.

Trump administration official Tommy Joyce used his appearance at the Future of Energy Security summit on Thursday to rail against allies’ net zero goals and to warn of a growing global dependence on China for clean energy technology.

But Miliband sought to cool temperatures. “Despite the differences, we can find common ground,” he said.

“Issues like nuclear cooperation are issues where we can work together with the U.S. We might be doing it with a different perspective but we can work together.”

On China, which has not sent a delegation to the summit, Miliband said that “cooperation” on climate change was a “no brainer” but acknowledged concerns about Beijing’s dominance of global supply chains for clean energy technology like solar, wind and electric cars.

“There is too much concentration in the clean energy market and one of the things we need is greater diversity,” Miliband said.

The solution, he said, was to promote manufacturing of clean technology at home, pointing to £300 million of newly-announced investment by the Labour government’s embryonic state-run power company, GB Energy.

Reducing reliance on China “starts with actually taking seriously a proper industrial policy where you start to build it in Britain,” Miliband said.

The U.K., he added, should be emulating China’s economic success in investing in the energy transition.

“Clean energy is also an economic opportunity, China recognizes that. Chinese growth was 40 percent higher last year because of their investment in clean energy. Why don’t we have some of that too?”