DECC pledges £295m boost to public sector efficiency
The new strategy acknowledges that there is a “significant untapped potential for energy saving in the business sector,” while also stating that it will release a response to the Business Energy Tax Review, which aims to reduce administrative burdens on companies that are implementing efficiency policies, after the announcement of the 2016 Budget.
The government has also pledged to insulate a million more homes before 2020, focussing domestic energy efficiency schemes “at those in greatest need,” with the department confirming the extension of the Warm Home Discount to 2020/21, currently totalling £320m per year.
The plan, which confirms the £3.3bn budget limit for the DECC for the current financial year, claims that alterations to the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) energy efficiency scheme are set to cut annual household energy bills by an average of £30 by 2017, while the government has also revealed plans to fit every home and business in the country with a smart meter by 2020.
The document also emphasises the need to decarbonise the UK’s heating supplies, citing the government’s intentions to increase in funding for the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) to £1.15bn, along with improving the schemes value for money and reducing its costs, while also expecting to provide enough renewable heat installations to warm the equivalent of over 500,000 homes.
The government aims to use heat alongside energy efficiency in buildings in order to “reduce carbon through a combination of demand reduction and efficient generation,” which will involve examining the performance of boilers and conventional heating systems.
The strategy outlines how the government will maintain support of gas and new nuclear solutions, while also defending recent cuts to renewable schemes and subsidies, reiterating how government spending on green energy should be reduced as the price of renewable energy falls.
The government claims that it will “cut energy costs, save carbon and free up resources for other priorities,” along with delivering an energy infrastructure “fit for the 21st Century,” while also emphasising the need for the UK’s energy mix to be “both cheap and clean.”
“We will meet these goals by nurturing competition and supporting innovation in new technologies. This will help keep bills as low as possible for families and businesses,” the government states in the plan,
“We are also pushing for ambitious international action on climate change to safeguard our long-term economic and national security. In this Parliament, we will work across the oil, gas and electricity sectors to make sure the UK has a well-functioning, competitive and resilient energy system.”
The strategy also explains how the DECC will double its current energy innovation programme to £500m over the next five years, providing start-up funding for promising new low-carbon technologies.
“We will take a more targeted approach to innovation spend, ensuring that we target those technologies that can make the greatest contribution to our carbon and security of supply objectives and where the UK has a natural competitive advantage,” says the plan.
“We are also investing £250m in an ambitious nuclear research and development programme, enabling the UK to be a global leader in innovative nuclear technologies.”
The document also states that the government will provide at least £5.8bn of funding through the International Climate Fund between 2016 and 2021 in order to help the world’s poorest countries adapt to climate change and to promote clean growth, with the DECC’s contribution totalling £2bn.
