Government prepares 2050 low-carbon master plan

The government is putting the finishing touches to a major report detailing a range of proposals for the UK to achieve its goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions 80 per cent on 1990 levels by mid-century.

Energy and climate change secretary Chris Huhne confirmed yesterday that the report, entitled 2050 Pathways, will be released next month alongside the coalition's first annual statement to the House of Commons on energy policy.

He added that the report will feature "detailed analysis and underpinning data" for various low-carbon scenarios and will be opened for public consultation.

Speaking to BusinessGreen.com, a spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said the report marks the culmination of months of work and draws on input from businesses and the NGO community.

"The aim is to look at a number of different ways to plausibly get to where we need to be, which is 80 per cent cuts with a secure energy supply," he said. "It will look at a range of different options for the energy mix and what we need to do on energy demand… it won't look at the specific incentives and frameworks but will provide a valuable modelling tool."

The report is expected to be of particular use to businesses, many of which have been arguing for some time that the government needs to begin working on the post-2020 energy and carbon policy framework if it is to provide the certainty required to encourage investment in long-term infrastructure projects such as offshore wind farms and nuclear power stations.

The report is expected to argue that the UK will need to electrify much of its infrastructure if it is to have any chance of meeting the 2050 carbon targets.

"An 80 per cent target means that realistically we need to electrify large sections of transport and heating," said the government spokesman. "That means that while overall energy demand may fall, demand for electricity could double by 2050. All the big investment challenges we face relate to that change."