Low Carbon Transition Plan - In Brief

The government today released its long anticipated Low Carbon Transition Plan. Here is the Department of Energy and Climate Change's summary of the key points:

By 2020:

• More than 1.2 million people will be in green jobs
• Seven million homes will have benefited from whole house makeovers, and more than 1.5 million households will be supported to produce their own clean energy
• 40 per cent of electricity will be from low carbon sources, from renewables, nuclear and clean coal
• We will be importing half the amount of gas that we otherwise would
• The average new car will emit 40 per cent less carbon than now.

The Power Sector

Around 50 per cent of the annual emissions cuts between now and 2020 will be achieved by further greening of the electricity mix. We expect 40 per cent of the electricity we use in 2020 to come from low carbon sources – 30 per cent from renewables, the rest from nuclear (including new build) and clean coal. We need to all-but eliminate carbon from electricity by 2050.

New today:

• Up to £6m to start development of a "smart grid", including a policy road map next spring.
• DECC to take direct responsibility from Ofgem for establishing a new grid access regime within 12 months.
• Launch of the new Office for Renewable Energy Deployment in DECC to speed up the growth of renewables in the UK.
• £11.2m to help regions and local authorities prepare for and speed up planning decisions on renewable and low carbon energy whilst protecting legitimate environmental and local concerns.
• The final shortlist of the schemes for the Severn Tidal Power feasibility study is confirmed as three barrages (including the Cardiff-Weston barrage) and two lagoons. Three innovative schemes have also won funding to support their development.
• A consultation covering the changes to the existing Renewables Obligation, such as extending the life-time of the RO to at least 2037 and the introduction of a 20 year limit on support, to make it capable of delivering some 30 per cent of our electricity from renewables.
• Approval for the UK’s largest biomass power station on Teesside

Homes and Communities

Around 15 per cent of the annual emissions cuts between now and 2020 will be achieved making our homes more efficient and supporting small scale renewable energy. There are massive cash savings to be made - in a poorly insulated home, up to £1 out of every £3 spent on heating is being wasted.

New today:

• We aim to place the energy suppliers’ social programmes on a statutory footing with increased resources when the current voluntary agreement ends in March 2011.
• Strengthening the energy regulator Ofgem's powers to protect the consumer.
• "Pay as you save" pilots helping people make their whole house greener by using the savings made on energy bills to repay the upfront costs, backed by up to £4m from low carbon investment funding. An eventual national roll out could create 34,000 jobs.
• Consultation on the shape and rates of a new "clean energy cash-back" scheme (Feed in Tariff) to be in place by April next year. People and businesses that generate their own electricity from low carbon sources will be paid for doing so. A similar scheme for renewable heat will follow in April 2011.
• Extending the current CERT energy efficiency programme by a year to 2012. Alongside an uplift of 20 per cent, total help under the scheme will total £3.2 billion.
• A new personal carbon incentive scheme to challenge people on a voluntary basis to save energy, through the Government’s Act on CO2 campaign.
• Challenging 15 villages, towns or cities to be testbeds for piloting future green initiatives.

Workplaces and Jobs

Around 10 per cent of the annual emissions cuts between now and 2020 will be achieved through greater efficiencies in our workplaces. By 2050, our offices, factories, schools and hospitals need to reduce emissions to almost zero. Jobs and business opportunities will be created in new sectors outside the energy sector and help will be needed to support all businesses be more energy efficient.

New today:

• Up to £120m from low carbon investment funding to significantly advance the offshore wind industry in the UK.
• Up to £60m from low carbon investment funding announced in the Budget to cement the UK’s position as a global leader in wave and tidal energy
• £6m of funding to explore areas of potential "hot rocks" to be used for geothermal energy. The deep geothermal resource of the South West of England alone could meet two per cent of annual UK electricity demand.
• A £4 million expansion of the Manufacturing Advisory Service, to provide more specialist advice to manufacturers on competing for low carbon opportunities, including support for suppliers for the civil nuclear industry.
• A new Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre to combine the knowledge, practices and expertise of around 30 manufacturing companies with the capability of universities on manufacturing, processes and skills.
• Campaign to be launched later this year to help small and medium businesses in the shift to low carbon.
• The public sector must lead by example. Emissions have already reduced by a third between 1990 and 2007 and DECC has challenged itself to reduce emissions from its own building by 10 per cent in 09/10 with more to follow.

Transport System

Around 20 per cent of the annual emissions cuts between now and 2020 will be achieved by cleaning up the way we travel. By 2050, road and rail transport will be largely decarbonised and aviation and shipping will have seen a significant improvement in efficiency.

New today:

• Providing proposed detail on the kinds of electric and plug-in hybrid cars that could qualify for the £2-5000 consumer incentives expected to apply from 2011. This includes the requirement for the vehicle to have maximum tailpipe emissions of 75g CO2/km. An update has also been published on the infrastructure framework which is supporting this scheme.
• A new steering group for the freight and logistics industry to find effective ways of measuring, reporting and reducing emissions across the logistics sector
• Commitment to work with our European partners to develop a robust mechanism for regulating CO2 from new vans.

Farms and managing land and waste sustainably

Around five per cent of the annual emissions cuts between now and 2020 will be achieved by reducing emissions from agriculture, land use and waste.

New today:

• For the first time ever, an ambition for agriculture to cut emissions. Changes to farming practices can save farmers money and contribute six per cent cuts from current projections by 2020.
• Support for anaerobic digestion, a technology that turns waste and manure into renewable energy.
• Support for energy efficient and low carbon farming. Within the limits imposed by the current EU rules on state aid, the Government and the Carbon Trust will work to make farming businesses eligible for its interest-free loans for low-carbon activity.
• Agreeing an action plan with the agriculture sector to reduce emissions and developing an advisory service to help farmers.
• Encouraging private funding for woodland creation.
• Reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill, and better capture of landfill emissions.