The Touchstone blog reports that George Osborne has issued a budget for gas and oil.

The budget gives over £3bn tax breaks for gas and oil exploration off the Shetland islands, and includes a strategy to secure investment in new gas-fuelled power stations.

This ties in with plans that the Energy Secretary, Ed Davey, let slip last Saturday afternoon, says the Touchstone blog. These are “plans to boost investment in gas-fired power stations that will allow them to emit high levels of CO2 until 2045. Davey said that the emissions standard for gas powered stations would be 450 grammes of carbon dioxide emitted for every kilowatt hour of electricity generated. This is over 4 times the 2030 level recommended by the independent committee on climate change. He hopes for legislation in the next Session of Parliament.”

Minus any support for investment in renewable energy.

Plus a promise to scrap or simplify the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) which is due to cost service employers like Tesco £9 a tonne of CO2 from next April.