A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said this proved Ms Rudd had meant to meet the UK’s renewables targets. “It is a cross-government target, so I am going to be working with transport and internally”.
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The leak has prompted an angry response from green campaigners, warning it demonstrates the Government’s “incoherent” energy policy, which has seen cuts to renewables support, community energy and energy efficiency measures since the election.
The letter, dated 23 October, also notes the United Kingdom could be liable for fines for not meeting the target and a judicial review if it fails to come up with a plan.
“I am concerned about the work that is being done on transport and on heat to meet the additional targets, that is why I have been writing to ministers in other departments, particularly in transport”, she said. “We continue to make progress to meet our overall renewable energy target”.
In a candid private message to senior Tories, Ms Rudd downplayed the chances of the United Kingdom sourcing 15 per cent of energy, including for transport, power and heating, from renewables by 2020.
If action is not taken, the portion of energy coming from clean sources could remain at 11.5 percent instead of the targeted 15 percent, Rudd said.
It is “difficult to say” whether or not the United Kingdom will hit its 2020 renewable energy targets, according to Energy Secretary Amber Rudd, after a leaked letter revealed there could be a massive shortfall. The United Kingdom now has about 20 percent of its electricity from renewables, she said Tuesday.
“We don’t have the right policies, particularly in transport and heat in order to make those 2020 targets”, Rudd told a cross-party committee of MPs. “But we have four to five years, and I am engaging with other secretaries of state to address this”. “The government clearly believes we will miss the target and none of the options that Rudd mentions for making up the shortfall are viable, even by her own assessment”, he said.
This also comes as last week a ComRes survey for the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) showed that the British public backed subsidies for renewable energy sources (66% wind, 73% solar and 75% early stage renewables) and that support for renewables subsidies combined was at 83%.
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“This policy makes no environmental or economic sense, as the United Kingdom is losing jobs and affordable clean, renewable energy sources”. Concerns over the renewable energy project pipeline have been further fuelled by the cancellation of a planned auction of subsidy support contracts this autumn.
