environmental news & information about the UK electricity supply industry
Legal & General has committed to making all the homes it builds operationally zero carbon by the end of the decade, a plan it says will slash customer energy bills and help the UK meet its 2050 net zero target. The insurance giant said the target would apply to all homes produced by its housing business, including affordable housing, traditional properties, and later living units designed for retirees.
Business Green 1st July 2020 read more »
The UK Government could be poised to scrap commitments for a programme of energy efficiency and sidelining programmes being proposed to boost energy efficiency of buildings. In the process innovative recent proposals for energy efficiency will be sidelined and instead the gas lobby will be given full reign. A range of Government departments and agencies are being sidelined by a sinister ‘deep state’. In a report in the Financial Times the Government, advised by Dominic Cummings, is said to be sidelining the 9.2 billion Conservative manifesto commitment for ‘ energy efficiency of homes, schools and hospitals’ (page 19) because it is ‘boring’. In the process vital measures to achieving the UK’s net zero target is being thwarted. For example, a new report urges ‘minimum energy performance standards’ to be set for existing buildings. The Welsh Government has given the green light for a £1.3 billion scheme to install insulation, heat pumps, batteries and solar panels in new and old buildings. Why cannot these things be done together? The measures can be targeted for the poorest areas and jobs boosted in the process. Energy bills for the pooorest communities can be slashed.
100% Renewables 29th June 2020 read more »
It is reported in the Financial Times by Jim Pickard that Dominic Cummings, a favourite of the Trumpian populists, has blocked implementation of Conservative manifesto promises to spend £9.2 billion on ‘energy efficiency of homes, schools and hosptials’. He is reported to have said that energy efficiency is boring, and he wants to spend the money on new houses. Apparently the Treasury and BEIS want to spend on energy efficiency to fulfill the manifesto commitment, but, it would seem, Cummings’ view of the will of the people is not to be denied. Of course the Steve Bannons of the world claim that it is the career civil servants, closet liberals and socialists, who are the deep state. But how can this be if it is the democratic wish of the nation as expressed through a manifesto which the self styled populists are trying to thwart? The Brexiteers have been keen on announcing that they are defending the will of the EU Referendum Result, but it seems now that it is just that the populists know best even when their views are different from what people voted for in a General Election. This attitude used to be called elitism!
Dave Toke’s Blog 29th June 2020 read more »
The Government is under pressure to deliver on its manifesto commitment to invest billions of pounds in insulating homes as part of a green recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. The Conservatives promised £9.2 billion to improve the energy efficiency of homes, schools and hospitals as part of their election bid last year. Government advisers the Committee on Climate Change are among those calling for major investment in making homes more energy efficient to boost jobs, cut fuel bills and tackle greenhouse gas emissions from buildings. But a report in the Financial Times suggests Downing Street chief adviser Dominic Cummings is holding up the investment.
Energy Voice 29th June 2020 read more »
Almost £80m of funding to support a range innovative energy efficiency projects has been announced by the government today, as it faces growing pressure to ramp up investment in renovating buildings to support a green recovery from the looming recession. The new investment covers a wide range of programmes, with £30m going towards the first phase of the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) aimed at energy intensive manufacturers such as car factories and steel plants; a further £25m earmarked for heat networks, including one project in Gateshead to harness geothermal water sitting in disused mine shafts to heat 1,250 homes; and the remaining £24m focused on new approaches for installing insulation for social housing at scale, rolling out heat pumps, and supporting the development of innovative green home finance products. The moves come amidst an escalating row over the government’s plans to deliver a multi-billion pound building upgrade programme, designed to put the country on track to meet its net zero emissions goals. A report in the Financial Times today indicates plans to fast track a £9.2bn upgrade programme that had been promised in the Conservative Manifesto last year are at risk of being watered down, with the Prime Minister’s controversial advisor Dominic Cummings said to favour shifting the funding towards housebuilding rather than green renovation programmes.
Business Green 29th June 2020 read more »
Boris Johnson is facing fresh pressure to bolster his Government’s plans for making homes more energy efficient amid concerns the Government’s manifesto pledge to invest heavily in green homes has stalled. A coalition of 15 organisations have written to the Prime Minister calling for a mass rollout of insulation and green heating technologies in all UK homes. The UK’s housing stock – the draughtiest housing stock in Western Europe – is responsible for about 20 per cent of UK emissions. Signatories to the letter, which include the National Housing Federation, Citizens Advice, the Centre for Ageing Better and Greenpeace UK, say radical action is needed to change course.
iNews 29th June 2020 read more »
Boris Johnson is being urged to fulfil his 2019 election manifesto pledge to invest £9.2bn in a massive insulation programme to make homes, schools and hospitals more energy efficient. Few details have yet emerged about the policy, but a major national effort to address buildings’ inefficiencies is regarded as a major means of reducing emissions and enabling the UK to hit net zero by 2050. The House of Commons’ environmental audit committee has now announced an inquiry into home insulation, and it has emerged that Downing Street chief adviser Dominic Cummings reportedly sought to water-down the pledge, and instead focus on building more houses.
Independent 30th June 2020 read more »
Boris Johnson has been urged to fulfil his manifesto promise to spend £9bn on a huge household insulation programme as his chief adviser tries to shift the spending on to other priorities. The UK prime minister delighted green groups in November when he committed the Conservative party to “invest £9.2bn in the energy efficiency of homes, schools and hospitals”. But the policy has been snarled up in a Whitehall turf war after Downing Street chief adviser Dominic Cummings sought to water down the policy.
FT 29th June 2020 read more »
Energy Efficiency Key to Covid Recovery. Putting the need to reduce emissions together with the need to deliver economic growth, staying under 2 degrees Celsius means we need to achieve annual reductions in carbon intensity of 5.7% per unit of economic activity, or 10% to stay under 1.5 degrees of warming. To put this in perspective, over the past decade we have managed to average 2.4% improvements per year; since 2015, the year in which renewable energy achieved “grid parity”, we nudged that up to 2.8%; the best year in recent history saw only 3.6%. This has to change. We have to get carbon out of our economy somewhere between 3 and 7 percentage points per year faster than we have been doing so far. And there are only two ways to do it: on the supply side, taking carbon out of our energy system (clean energy); and on the demand side, taking energy out of our economy (energy productivity). In most discussions, the supply side grabs most attention, sucking all the air out of debate about demand-side efficiency. But the fact is, we will get nowhere near our climate targets without a step change in energy use, as well as production. Indeed, most models of climate-compatible energy pathways see around half of the heavy lifting being done by improved energy productivity.
Bloomberg New Energy Finance 26th June 2020 read more »
EDF, Dimplex and Kingspan are among the cohort of 100+ businesses, investors and trade bodies calling for the UK’s Covid-19 recovery package to contain legally-binding measures for addressing wasted energy and carbon emissions from housing. In a letter coordinated by the Sustainable Energy Association (SEA) and sent to Energy Minister Kwasi Kwarteng, signatories call for progress on the Domestic Premises (Energy Performance) Bill to continue to time, despite the impacts which the pandemic has had on the policymaking process. The Bill will require all fuel-poor homes to reach energy performance (EPC) standard level C by 2030, with this requirement extending to all other homes by 2035. These commitments were notably included in the Conservative Party’s manifesto at the December 2019 general election.
Edie 26th June 2020 read more »
Every Whitehall department has been asked to submit ideas to No 10 and the Treasury that will help to frame a mini-budget due to be presented by Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, next month. Among projects expected to be given the green light is a huge investment programme to retrofit the UK’s housing stock to improve energy efficiency. There are also plans for a retraining “revolution”. Proposals include providing workers with an education allowance to train at further education colleges or other venues.
Times 22nd June 2020 read more »
Highly insulated buildings as a crucial element for smart cities, grid balancing and energy storage for renewables. Insulation of the building fabric and the resulting reduction of energy needs for heating and cooling are indispensable prerequisites for a rapid transition towards renewable energies and the urgent decarbonisation of urban areas.
Knauf Insulation (accessed) 18th June 2020 read more »
Andrew Warren: Shaping the world after lockdown. Will delivering energy efficiency be easier than before? Or will inbuilt inertia simply permit a lazy reversion to business as usual? For decades the energy inefficiency of UK housing stock has been a laughing stock. It’s 5 years since the National Infrastructure Commission was created. The NIC has been recommended an efficiency programme consistently. The Climate Change Committee agrees. Energy Efficiency must be a priority infrastructure investment.
Energy in Buildings and Industry (not on web) 15th June 2020 read more »
Almost 100 companies and organisations have now committed to ensuring their buildings emit zero carbon emissions by 2030 or sooner, with the number signed up to the pledge near doubling since last year, the World Green Building Council (WGBC) announced today. Launched in 2018, the Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment has now attracted 96 signatories, with the actions they have pledged through the initiative expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 3.3 million tonnes, estimates the WGBC, which is spearheading the initiative. New signatories over the past 12 months – who include Filipino developer Arthaland, residential developer Joseoph Homes, Finish retail developer Citycon, Finnish pension insurer Varma, and healthcare and real estate investment trust Assura – have pledged that all the buildings they own, occupy or develop will operate at net zero carbon emissions by 2030 or earlier. Additionally, 28 cities, six states, and one region have signed the Commitment, which WGBC said “signalled a shift in political will towards net zero policy”. They join existing firms signed up to the pledge such as AESG, Signify, and Kingspan.
Business Green 5th June 2020 read more »
A new study shows that programs to increase the energy efficiency of our homes and businesses remain even cheaper than natural gas, demonstrating once again that this abundant energy “resource” is the most cost-effective path to a cleaner future. Energy efficiency programs work by offering incentives to customers who invest in money-saving fixtures, like attic insulation and energy-smart appliances. Time and time again, these programs have proven to be the cheapest way to cut our energy waste and forestall climate change. In addition to saving money and easing the effects of climate change, energy efficiency programs also generate high-quality jobs. Energy efficiency accounted for nearly half of the energy industry’s overall net of new jobs in 2019, and it employs twice as many U.S. workers as the entire fossil fuel industry.
Clean Technica 1st June 2020 read more »
A new analysis by the ECIU notes that extended lockdown into the winter months could exacerbate fuel poverty in the UK and calls on the government to implement vast energy efficiency programmes for homes that will lower heating bills while reducing carbon, spurring jobs and levelling regional inequalites. Families living in the UK’s ‘leakiest’ homes could have to shell out roughly £50 more a month on heating bills than those who live in better-insulated buildings if the coronavirus lockdown is extended or repeated in the winter months, the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) has today warned. A new report from the think tank argues that an increase in household energy bills caused during an extended lockdown period could exacerbate financial challenges sparked by the Covid-19 economic shock and force families that are unable to shoulder the higher energy bills that would result from spending more time at home to live in cold, unsafe homes.
Business Green 22nd May 2020 read more »
Demand-side response will be able to bid for 15-year capacity market agreements under changes to the government’s policy intended to keep the lights on and incentivise new capacity. Government agreed to make changes to the scheme after the European Commission was forced to make a formal investigation of the policy following a successful legal challenge by Tempus Energy that led to the capacity market being suspended. Tempus, a demand-side response company, launched the challenge because founder Sara Bell argued it was anticompetitive to allow some technologies to bid for multi-year agreements, but DSR to only bid for one-year contracts.
The Energyst 20th May 2020 read more »
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