More households will receive grants to make their homes more energy efficient as part of the government’s updated energy security strategy, which will be released on Thursday.
Up to 80 percent of households in council tax categories A to D are eligible for home insulation funding, which can save up to £400 a year on energy bills. Incentives should also be created to move from boilers to energy efficient heat pumps.
Energy Security Minister Grant Shapps is set to unveil 60 policies that will take the UK to zero by 2050 after the Supreme Court ruled last year that the government’s existing plans are illegal because they lack clear details.
Green groups, however, said the new package was nothing more than new announcements or preliminary plans that were nowhere near radical enough to achieve the government’s own goals.
A mandate for automakers to produce a target number of electric vehicles for sale each year has been shelved and open for consultation, much to the dismay of campaigners.
Instead, £381m will be invested in local electric vehicle charging infrastructure that could fund tens of thousands of new street chargers across the UK.
Some 300,000 of the country’s least efficient homes could benefit from improved insulation, which the government says will help meet the goal of reducing energy demand by 15% by 2030 under the UK’s new ‘Isolation Scheme’.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said on Wednesday the government would not announce its response to President Joe Biden’s bill to lower inflation until the fall, raising fears that the delay would deter green investment in the UK.
The Energy Security Strategy promises more funding and investment in carbon capture and storage, nuclear power and hydrogen, but campaigners have called for an end to the ban on onshore wind power to boost Britain’s renewable energy industry.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “When global energy supplies are disrupted and armed by people like Putin, we see rising household bills and slowing economic growth around the world.
“We intervened to protect people from the worst of the consequences by helping to pay about half of normal electricity bills. But we are also doing everything we can to supply the UK with energy and ensure our long-term energy security with more affordable and cleaner energy from the UK so we can lower energy prices and grow our economy.”
Ed Miliband, secretary for Shadow Climate and Net Zero, said: “What was announced with much hype as the government’s ‘green day’ has turned out to be an increasingly weak groundhog day with new announcements, hot politics and a lack of new investment.”
heat pumps and insulation
Britain’s grand lockdown scheme, renamed ECO+, will provide grants to upgrade 300,000 homes, and 80 percent of council taxpayers in classes A to D are eligible. Introduced from this year until March 2026.
The £30m investment accelerator for heat pumps will bring £270m of private investment to boost production in the UK. The Boiler Modernization Scheme, which provides a £5,000 grant to people who buy a heat pump, has been extended until 2028.gas and electricity bills
Plans have already been announced to balance gas and electricity bills in 2023-2024. by eliminating fees for electricity to make it cheaper (electricity is produced from cleaner energy sources than gas). There are no other details about the schedule and cost.Electric Vehicles (EV)
The government is investing more than £380m to expand EV charging stations and infrastructure to support EV rollout, but is discussing an EV mandate that will require manufacturers to meet annual sales targets, so the scheme will be delayed for months.Renewable energy sources
A £160 million investment has already been announced for the booming offshore wind industry. As previously announced, the planning process will be accelerated to attract investment in offshore wind and solar energy. The UK does not need an announcement to lift the ban on onshore wind power to reach the net zero target, campaigners say.Carbon capture and storage
Around £20bn has already been announced to fund projects to reduce carbon emissions. But critics say the measure is not entirely sustainable because it justifies producing carbon as a fuel.Nuclear
The competition for technology projects for small modular reactors will be launched in autumn. There are no funding or schedule details.hydrogen
The first tranche of projects funded under the previously announced £240m Net Zero Hydrogen Fund. There are no schedule details.
Mel Evans, Greenpeace UK’s head of climate change, said: “Green Day has become Groundhog Day – another government failure to tackle climate change. As climate chaos crashes onto our shores and millions of people struggle to pay their bills, ministers have once again failed to do the job in astonishing fashion. This fragmentary, excessive and confusing announcement is simply not enough to meaningfully address climate change or provide homes with safe and affordable energy.”
Jess Ralston, head of energy and climate intelligence, said: “With bills still high, no amount of new money spent on insulation will leave many homes cold.
“The fact that the chancellor is delaying his response to the US Inflation Reduction Act and the EU Clean Zero Industry Act until the fall could be the final nail in the coffin for companies and offshore wind investors who are simply shifting their investments to where there are long years. – urgent investments. Political and Regulatory Certainty”.
Mike Childs, political head of Friends of the Earth, said: “Ministers need to scale up and accelerate the race to zero, but these plans look ill-conceived, half-hearted and dangerously unambitious.
“These announcements will do little to improve energy security, lower bills, or advance climate goals.”
Green Alliance policy chief Chris Venables said: “There are some welcome policies here, such as an electric vehicle mandate, but it’s not at all clear that this plan shows the government is cutting emissions to the extent it wants to achieve its own goals.
“The best way to ensure energy security, create jobs and fight climate change is to invest heavily in existing green technologies. While the US has set the bar high with the Inflation Reduction Act, the UK is far behind and remains largely focused on short-term solutions.”
Source: I News
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