What to look forward to in the Low Carbon Transition

UK government sets out transition plan to meet 2020 carbon target

The UK has published details of its Low Carbon Transition Plan, setting a mandatory carbon budget to limit each Government department in their use of both carbon and cash.

When it comes to Britain’s future energy mix, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband is standing by his ‘trinity’ of renewables, nuclear and coal with carbon capture. These three together are supposed to provide 40% of UK electricity by 2020. Renewables will be the biggest element in this, with a target of 30% of electricity (and 15% of all energy), compared with just 5.5% of electricity at present. The Renewable Energy Strategy White Paper, announced alongside the transition plan, spells out the key measures: 

• a new Office for Renewable Energy Deployment within the Department of Energy and Climate Change
• a new regime for grid access, with government funding for ‘smart grid’ development
• major promotion of wind and tidal power, with funding for up to 3,000 offshore turbines, and creation of a special marine technologies economic area in the south-west
• consultation on the details of a 'clean energy cashback' scheme, a feed-in tariff incentive for small-scale generation
• 1.2 million green jobs.

At Forum for the Future, energy and climate expert Iain Watt describes the proposals as “suitably ambitious”.  He’s only too aware that “we’ve got the best Government in the world for setting targets”, but he does see “some real substance” in there too. One good example is the ‘clean energy cash-back’ scheme for small-scale generation, starting next year for electricity and the following year for heat. The uptake of this kind of feed-in tariff incentive, in countries such as Spain and Germany, has produced an impressive surge in renewable microgeneration, and Watt is pleased that the UK is now following suit with “proper rapidity”. – Roger East

30 October 2009

Roger East

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