National Audit Office Says UK will miss Emission Targets
During the last labour government years massive investment was made into the UK’s renewable energy development to hit certain targets but a new report suggests these are going to be missed.
The last 10 years saw massive investment of nearly £1billion into the renewable energy sector and with higher taxes on vehicles and other polluting structures in an effort to reduce emissions and hit EU targets.
There were two main targets to hit – one to have 15% of all energy to come from renewable energy sources such as water, solar and biomass and to reduce carbon emissions by an eye watering 80% by 2050. The new report from the new national audit office now says these are completely unrealistic and unachievable.
Between 2000 and 2009 there was £265 million spend in direct aid and a further £1 billion in regulatory and fiscal action but even so the method of collecting the data to see if this investment has paid off is poor and may be difficult to see a real return on investment in any area.
The new conservative and liberal democratic government is reviewing how investment is being targeted and the results to date to see even if the European model of subsidies is the right way forward and whether changing policies at this stage may make any targets achievable. Currently the model used in Europe pays above market rates for electricity that is derived from solar power or wind farms.
The latest data from 2008 suggests that the UK generates just 2.3% of its electrical energy from renewable sources so the target to have 15% by 2020 looks completely over optimistic.
However changes in the UK economy through the recession has marginally helped as the demand for energy is forecast to reduce by around 1.5% by the end of this year with the reduced use of coal powered electricity which is one of the most expensive to produce. A report from Cambridge Econometrics predicts that the UK will also miss its legal target to reduce CO2 emissions by 34% by 2020.
In another report published today by the British Property Federation in conjunction with Taylor Wessing and research firm Spada who surveyed over 7,000 individuals they also say that the government’s current zero carbon targets for the development industry are realistic. The report titled “hitting the green wall, and beyond” key findings also say that :
- the sector is sceptical of the governments green policy objectives
- that 73% of the respondents believe the plans to make the commercial property sector zero carbon (neutral) by 2019 are unrealistic
- and 76% think the overall plans by the government to make all new housing zero carbon neutral by 2016 are also unrealistic
Of course people in the industry would say this but if there were no targets or incentives to make change nothing would happen. Building carbon efficient homes is just one way in which to reduce CO2 emissions and this is just one segment in the whole case for reducing overall emissions from the UK.
But Liz Peace, Chief Executive of the British Property Federation, said: “With an industry that is sceptical about carbon reduction targets, closer collaboration between Government and the industry is essential if these are to be met. Government will need to work with all sectors to understand fragmented views and identify why certain sectors feel the targets are more achievable than others.
“Government faces a huge challenge in striking the right balance between ‘carrot’ and ‘stick’ in order to secure its sustainability objectives, whilst the industry must engage as much as possible and attempt to meet and exceed targets. An inconsistent approach to regulation and its implementation, or the setting of targets that are perceived as unachievable, is likely to impact negatively on the delivery of the sustainability agenda by the industry.”
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