Energy and Climate Change Committee calls on government to take urgent action to accelerate rollout of renewable heat and transport technologies
The UK is set to miss a legally-binding EU target to generate 15 per cent of its energy from renewable sources, according to a new analysis from the Energy and Climate Change Committee (ECCC) of MPs.
The report echoes recent warnings from businesses and green groups that the government is highly unlikely to meet the target due to slower than expected progress in delivering renewable heat and transport technologies.
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The government had intended to meet the overarching 15 per cent renewable energy target by sourcing 30 per cent of electricity from renewables, 12 per cent of heat from renewables, and 10 per cent of transport fuels from renewables.
However, the report shows that while the UK is three-quarters of the way towards its 30 per cent electricity sub-target and is expected to exceed it by 2020, it is not yet halfway towards 12 per cent heat target and the proportion of renewable energy used in transport actually fell last year.
"The experts we spoke to were clear: the UK will miss its 2020 renewable energy targets without major policy improvements," said Energy and Climate Change Committee Chair Angus MacNeil MP. "Failing to meet these would damage the UK's reputation for climate change leadership. The government must take urgent action on heat and transport to renew its efforts on decarbonisation."
A leaked letter late last year from then Energy and Climate Change Secretary Amber Rudd to cabinet colleagues confirmed the government is well aware it is set to miss the 2020 targets. In the letter, Rudd urged other departments to step up efforts to accelerate the rollout of green transport and green heat technologies.
The ECCC report puts forward a number of recommendations to help ensure the targets are met, including reforms to the Renewable Heat Incentive and an increase in the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO).
Specifically, the report argues many of the heat pumps subsidised through the RHI have "proven unsatisfactory in actual use", but are still being prioritised over biomass alternatives that have been successful. It also argues more needs to be done to incentivise the deployment of biomethane technologies, which it describes as "crucial to meeting the 2020 target".
Under the UK's current EU membership it would be at risk of fines if it missed the 2020 targets. However, it remains unclear whether the targets will be retained and enforced following the imminent Brexit negotiations.
The committee argued that regardless of the uncertainty created by Brexit it was in the UK's interests to work towards meeting the targets, insisting it would undermine wider emissions targets if the renewables goals are missed.
"We agreed our 2020 renewable energy targets as part of the EU but they still have many merits, even as the UK government prepares for Brexit," said MacNeil. "If the UK reneges on these targets, it will undermine confidence in the government's commitment to clean energy and the climate targets agreed in Paris. Progress has been slow, but this must be taken as a call to action, not an excuse for backtrack."
Dr. Nina Skorupska CBE, chief executive of the Renewable Energy Association, said the report highlighted how meeting the renewables targets was "a no-regrets policy, not only because we need new investment in our energy supply but because supporting renewable heat and transport now will be critical to meeting our carbon budgets in the 2020s".
"In the past week the United States and China, the world's two largest economies, formally committed to long-term decarbonisation by signing the Paris Climate Agreement," she said. "The scale of low carbon investment that we can expect in the coming decades is in the trillions of dollars globally. It is therefore critical, as this report highlights, that renewables and decarbonisation are at the heart of the government's future industrial strategy."
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. "Our priority is providing secure, affordable and clean energy for families and businesses," she said. "Renewable energy already makes up around 25 per cent of our electricity and we're on track to hit our overall targets. The latest Climate Change Performance Index shows the UK is the second best country in the world on tackling climate change."
The report comes on the same day as think tank Policy Exchange prepares to release a new study that echoes the committee's criticism of heat pumps and proposes a series of reforms designed to ensure renewable heat policies deliver better value for money.
The report argues the previous government's plan to decarbonise heating by fitting electric heat pumps in most homes by 2050 could cost up to £300bn when you consider the installation costs of more than £8,500 per heat pump, grid upgrades, and the additional 100GW of power generation capacity that would be required to meet the additional demand for electricity.
"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.
It adds that deep cuts in heat-related emissions are achievable more cost-effectively through improved building and boiler energy efficiency and increased investment in green gases, such as biomethane and synthetic biogas.
It also argues the government should ditch the EU's 2020 renewable heat target and focus on delivering emissions reductions from heat in the most cost effective way possible.
"Heating our homes and other buildings accounts for nearly half of all energy consumed in the UK, and one third of total greenhouse gas emissions," said report author Richard Howard. "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.
"The previous government put all its eggs in one basket with a strategy focusing on electric heat pumps. This is a mistake given the huge costs involved - which inevitably would be picked up by UK consumers. Our alternative approach, which still achieves an 80 per cent reduction in emissions, involves making significant improvements in home insulation and boiler efficiency, and switching to greener forms of gas such as biomethane, which can be produced from waste food and other organic materials and injected into the gas grid."
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