UK Report Supports Growth in Renewable Resources

LONDON — The United Kingdom may soon be a leader in global green energy if a government watchdog group has its way.

 

UK officials are considering a growing number of budget cuts — including cuts in green projects —spurring an independent advisory committee to urge the British Parliament not to reduce funding for environmentally friendly technologies.

 

The Committee on Climate Change, a group charged with counseling the British government on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, reported recently that any decrease in the current funding levels of £550 million ($840 million) per year would increase the risk of missing carbon budgets and result in the UK losing out on critical opportunities to build a greener economy.

 

The government there has committed to reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent before 2050 under a mandatory cap and trade plan known as the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme that was established by the parliament’s Climate Change Act 2008. CCC members fear that without government support, the low-carbon technologies would flounder, according to a report that the group issued in July.

 

In the report, “Building a low-carbon economy – the UK’s innovation challenge,” the CCC detailed offshore wind development as being the least costly path to scaling back carbon emission and meeting the government’s year 2020 target of acquiring 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources. The government has existing plans to develop up to 13 Gigawatts of offshore wind capacity, costing about £50 million ($76 million) per year in funding for research and development. The committee added that the UK presently has enough ocean resources to produce about 65 Gigawatts of wave and tidal energy per year, a factor that could make the country a leader in marine energy technology worldwide. 

 

The CCC report recommended that the UK focus largely on developing and deploying six major technologies: offshore wind farms, marine energy, carbon capture and storage, smart grids and meters, electronic vehicles, and energy-efficient aviation. The group also advocated that the UK government also expand its use of nuclear power, advanced insulation technologies and geothermal heating and cool systems, and invest in research for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, third-generation solar photovoltaics, electricity storage and advanced bio-fuels technologies. 

 

The challenge for the new UK government, according to CCC, will be to establish a clear strategy out to 2050 that focuses resources on the best suite of low-carbon technologies and guides the various delivery bodies.

 

The findings were published in July in a report delivered to the UK Government’s Chief Scientific Advisor, Professor Sir John Beddington, who requested the review.

 

Read the entire report at www.theccc.org.uk.