Britain will miss its renewable energy generation target by 2020, a committee of MPs warned, as it said even with the Brexit vote the country is still obligated to meet the European Union set targets.
Advertisement
“The UK will miss its 2020 renewable energy targets without major policy improvements”, MacNeil said.
It went on to call for “urgent” action to renew a push towards decarbonisation, as one expert who gave evidence to the inquiry said it should “ring alarm bells for the Government”. “If the United Kingdom reneges on these targets, it will undermine confidence in the Government’s commitment to clean energy and the climate targets agreed in Paris”.
“While the United Kingdom must meet renewable energy targets, the freight sector is also under enormous pressure to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality, but we need the policies in place to make alternatives feasible”.
In addition, each member state was required to adopt sub-targets for electricity, heat and transport.
MPs have warned that the United Kingdom will fail to meet its 2020 renewable energy target unless the government takes urgent action – and they highlighted the fact that the proportion of renewable energy used in transport actually fell a year ago.
The UK will miss crucial 2020 renewable heat and transport targets and significantly damage its global reputation as a climate leader unless “major policy improvements” are rapidly enforced, a major new report from the Energy and Climate Change Committee (ECC) has concluded.
The 15% target comprised of 30% of electricity from wind, solar or other low-carbon methods, 12% of heat and 10% in transport fuels.
Figures showed 5.64% of heat demand was met by renewables at the end of previous year, compared to the 2020 target of 12%. “If the United Kingdom reneges on these targets, it will undermine confidence in the government’s commitment to clean energy and the climate targets agreed in Paris”.
It found that Government can not rely on complete heat electrification and that bioenergy has a clear role in decarbonising heat.
Among issues highlighted in the report are the government shift on auto tax that means some of the most fuel-efficient cars pay as much as the dirtiest gas guzzlers.
A Downing Street source said the United Kingdom would ratify the Paris climate change agreement “as soon as possible” but suggested no date.
“The latest Climate Change Performance Index shows the United Kingdom is the second best country in the world on tackling climate change”, the BEIS spokeswoman said.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy said the government was making good progress in expanding the UK’s use of renewables.
Advertisement
“All in all it would cost as much as £12,000 per household to deliver the previous government’s plans to reduce carbon emissions from domestic heating”, the report argues. “However despite its significance, heat remains the “Cinderella” of energy and climate policy, having been largely overlooked in favour of the other main energy sectors: power and transport”.
