The Government has today unveiled plans to reduce household carbon emissions to almost zero by the year 2050 through a combination of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies.
The Heat and Energy Saving Strategy has been published for consultation today by DECC (Department of Energy and Climate Change) and CLG (Communities and Local Government), and includes proposals for:
· Rolling out low-cost home energy audits, developing a qualification for energy advisers, and establishing an accreditation scheme for installers.
· Finance packages to install energy efficiency measures and low-carbon heat and power sources would be offered to householders. Repayment from part of the savings on energy bills would be linked to the property, rather than residents.
· Combined with guaranteed cash payments by way of a Renewable Heat Incentive and a Feed-in Tariff for small scale electricity generation, the payback for homeowners who switch to low-carbon technologies and save energy would start from day one.
· Options for improving the delivery of energy efficiency advice and measures, including establishing a central coordinating body funded by energy companies and working to Government-set targets.
Commenting on today’s announcements, deputy managing director Austin Baggett said:
“We already have a great vehicle on which to deliver these plans – the Energy Performance Certificate. We also have a highly trained work force of qualified and accredited energy assessors. It is encouraging that Government has recognised the importance of both of these in their proposals.
“However, we now need to quickly develop a far more detailed plan for how energy advice is to be provided and, crucially, how it is to be funded. Energy assessors will need to receive funding to pay for any top-up training they need and funding will also be required to subsidise the cost of providing the energy advice. We also need fiscal incentives to persuade householders to take action on the advice that they receive – we cannot simply rely on people ‘to do the right thing’. Government should be bold and use differential rates on both stamp duty and council tax to encourage householders to act.”
Click on the link below to go to the DECC website and see the Consultation on Heat and Energy Saving Strategy:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/consultations/index.htm
NB: Two other consultation documents were also published today: The Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) consultation and the Community Energy Savings Programme (CESP) consultation.
