Connecting the Future - Greenpeace UK

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Connecting the future: the UK’s renewable energy strategy Reducing energy intensity: efficiency and demand 34 Home Builders Federation and other private developer organisations. However, the potential to build zero carbon homes already exists, and given the scale of emissions from the domestic sector and the potential for their rapid reduction, it would have been both feasible and desirable to introduce the standards at an earlier date (House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (2007). Having said that, the plan to integrate efficiency measures and low-carbon generation projects is a sensible approach to shifting the housing sector onto a more sustainable path in the longer-term. Similarly, the ambition set out in the 2008 Budget for all new non-domestic buildings to be zero carbon from 2019 (or 2018 for new public sector buildings) is welcome. However, setting this ambition 10 years in the future again seems unnecessarily cautious, given the potential for rapid reductions in the short-term. There has also been recent confusion over what the development of a zero carbon home policy for 2016 will mean for measures directed at new homes now. Attention has focused in particular on the future of the Merton Rule, which allows local authorities to set a target for the use of on-site renewable energy to reduce CO2 emissions from major new developments. 9 It has been reported that Communities and Local Government is considering removing the rule from a forthcoming statement on planning policy, meaning that local authorities may no longer be able to require renewable energy as part of a development (Guardian 2007). The department’s justification for this is apparently that the necessity for a specific rule requiring renewables will be removed by the requirement for zero carbon development. The Merton Rule has been criticised by some builders’ federations, in part because of the cost of installing renewable energy technologies and in part because it argues that energy efficiency is a better option for reducing CO2 emissions (British Property Federation 2007). This argument misses the point on two levels: firstly, the degree to which a development is energy efficient reduces the level of renewable energy required to meet the target set. Secondly, the additional costs of installing renewable energy technologies in new developments should ultimately be offset by the savings on the occupants’ bills. The Merton Rule has led to the development of a market for small-scale renewables at the domestic level which is helping to establish the supply chain and expertise that will be required for the future much wider implementation of those technologies as part of the Zero Carbon Homes initiative. Abolishing the Merton Rule would thus overlook the vital role it is playing in helping to create a viable market for small-scale renewables by 2016. The potential for a supply chain gap in suitable renewable energy technologies has been highlighted by the Renewables Advisory Board, which has warned that sufficient capacity must be built up gradually if the 2016 target for zero carbon homes is to be implemented effectively (Renewables Advisory Board 2007). 3.2.4 Other measures Other measures in the 2007 White Paper are largely aimed at increasing consumers’ awareness of the value of energy and the potential for using it 9 In October 2003, the London Borough of Merton adopted a policy specifying that all developments of 10 or more houses and ‘new non-residential development above a threshold of 1,000m2 will be expected to incorporate renewable energy production equipment to provide at least 10% of predicted energy requirements.’ Since then similar prescriptive policies have been adopted by numerous other local authorities (www.themertonrule.org).
Connecting the future: the UK’s renewable energy strategy Reducing energy intensity: efficiency and demand 35 more efficiently. They include the introduction of the Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs). EPCs have been introduced for homes with three or more bedrooms and will be introduced for commercial buildings from April 2008. They will be complemented by information on how to improve energy performance. Fiscal measures have also been set up, for example reduced VAT for insulation and some microgeneration and heating technologies, and incentives for landlords to improve the energy efficiency of their properties. The White Paper also proposed requiring suppliers to include information on comparative historic energy consumption on domestic customers’ bills from May 2008 and set out its expectation that smart meters (including real time electricity display) should be sited in all homes within 10 years. It also proposed requiring that all replacement meters installed by energy suppliers in existing homes, and all meters in new homes, should include real time electricity displays by May 2008, and that other households requesting a real time display should be provided with one between 2008–10. The intention was is to make consumers more aware of how they use energy, and so to reduce consumption. However, following consultation on the White Paper proposals, the government backed away from the plan to require real time displays, instead making this action voluntary for suppliers (BERR 2008d). This may not be a hugely significant shift in terms of overall carbon emissions, but the removal of the requirement for real time displays in favour of voluntary action, largely on cost grounds, demonstrates the difficulty the government has in balancing its environmental goals with business interests. The White Paper commits the government to concrete action on improving end-use efficiency, largely driven by the requirements of EU legislation. This includes potential improvements to the labelling of products to show their energy consumption, and a target to phase out incandescent light bulbs from domestic use by 2011. This is ahead of the date expected to be set by EU legislation, which is unlikely to be implemented until 2010, but the impact of the measure is mitigated somewhat by confining it to the domestic sector, and qualifying the intention by stating that the bulbs will be phased out only ‘where an efficient alternative exists’. 3.3 Conclusions: reducing energy intensity Energy efficiency and demand reduction measures are intended to reduce the energy intensity of the UK’s economy. As well as reducing emissions overall, improved efficiency can have broader benefits, in particular in relation to industrial competitiveness. However, the measures in the 2007 White Paper are strikingly unambitious in comparison with the UK’s potential for cost effective improvements in energy efficiency. Greater reductions in emissions could be achieved relatively quickly and cheaply by increasing the impact of programmes directed at the industrial, business and domestic sectors. It is clear that there is still enormous scope to reduce emissions from business and industry cost effectively; but in order to maximise these,in the short term CCAs need to be tightened. Meanwhile, it is difficult to predict the likely impact
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