Sheffield Campaign Against Climate Change is very pleased to see that the newspaper wishes to "raise awareness of the need for better performance by business and industry" as well as groups and individuals.

The awards should present a fantastic opportunity for you to raise awareness of the event's main sponsor, the power company E.ON. Perhaps the award presenters could point out to E.ON that their proposed new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth will emit more carbon dioxide than Ghana (population approx 18 million).

I propose that the rules for the awards should be relaxed. If E.ON take the decision to abandon this grossly irresponsible project, they will surely richly deserve to win one themselves.

E.ON said: We're delighted to be sponsoring these important awards for the second year running, demonstrating our commitment to both the environment and to the South Yorkshire region.

As many people will know, we received planning permission to build a new biomass power station at Blackburn Meadows earlier this year, and we are indeed planning to replace our coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth with new units that will be far more efficient, and therefore cleaner, than the existing plant.

As one of the UK's leading power and gas companies, we recognise that we have an important role to play in helping to support and develop alternative ways of generating energy – however, the challenge we're facing isn't only an environmental one.

With a third of the UK's power stations closing in the next 10 to 15 years, we must make investments that will allow us to keep the UK's homes and businesses light and warm. We must do that in a way that is as secure and as affordable as possible. And, of course, we must ensure that we reduce our impact on the environment.

We won't pretend that it's black or white or that we have all the answers. What we do know is that we have to strike the right balance of building new renewable projects alongside gas, coal and nuclear technologies, explore the technologies of the future, and encourage our customers to be more energy efficient in their day-to-day lives, so that we can do our bit as a company and help others to do their bit as individuals.


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