By 2016, between 15MW/H and 20MW/H of generating capacity – nearly a quarter of the UK’s existing power plants – will be taken out of service. Over half of the UK’s nuclear reactors – which provide about a fifth of our electricity – will be mothballed, with more to follow soon after. The UK’s old coal plants which do not comply with European legislation on pollution will also have closed down by then.

In deciding how to plug this looming generating gap, government ministers and the energy industry now must juggle two new factors. Security of energy supply is a mounting concern. The UK is becoming increasingly dependent on imports of oil and gas from politically unstable countries like Russia and Algeria because of rapidly depleting North Sea reserves. Add in the government’s policy of taxing carbon emissions – generators are responsible for about a third of the UK’s total – and some tough decisions must be made and soon.

The government is still consulting on its energy white paper. Ministers have said they want a variety of types of power generation but also insist they will only set the framework for the energy market, leaving companies and financial investors to decide how much of each type of generating capacity to build. Companies have to weigh up the costs of each type of power generation and also judge which form is most reliable.

So let’s open the debate on the merits of the main low carbon forms of electricity generation: nuclear, renewables (wind and marine energy), biomass and coal plants with carbon capture and storage (CCS).