Chatham House urges energy reforms

LONDON, July 27 (UPI) -- Energy security in the United Kingdom depends on investments and technology as much as alternative energy, research from Chatham House suggests.

A report from British policy center Chatham House warns that the United Kingdom is facing an "unprecedented" challenge in energy security.

The report says the region has reached the end of self-sufficiency in conventional energy resourcing, meaning energy strategies will have to focus on the international energy sector for energy security.

"The U.K. cannot plan for the world on these issues but it can have a strategy for its actions in the world," said John Mitchell of Chatham House, a co-author of the report. "With the exception of its approach to managing climate change in the U.N. negotiations, the U.K. does not have such a strategy."

The Chatham House report calls for "ambitious" targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, "full liberalization" of the energy sector and a strategy for a European "super grid."

The report also calls on the United Kingdom to work closely with the European Union and the major industrialized nations on energy and climate change measures.

"Achieving Britain's strategic aims will require using our influence in Europe to build competitive energy markets and to work with emerging economies to develop a global climate regime," said co-author Nick Mabey, the top executive at environmental advocacy group E3G.