The Government adviser on climate change has said the UK should ring-fence funding for green technologies in order to meet long-term climate change targets and low carbon economic growth.
In a report published today, the
Committee on Climate Change (CCC) said Government support must be protected for "at least" six
low carbon technologies, including carbon capture and storage, marine and offshore wind. It also recommends funding for nuclear.
The watchdog said the Government must not fall behind current annual
funding levels of £550 million and must increase levels of funding once financial pressures on the public purse have eased. It said these measures were critical to ensure the UK met its 2050 climate change targets and did not fall behind in the global race to develop low carbon
technologies.
The CCC recommendations follow £34 million worth of cuts to low carbon technologies by the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
In its report, 'Building a Low Carbon Economy: The UK’s Innovation Challenge’, the CCC warned that without Government support low carbon
innovations were likely to get stuck in a so-called "valley of death", where development is curtailed and technologies don’t make it to market.
UK R&D on energy lags behind
The UK’s spend on energy
research and development (R&D) as a percentage of GDP lags behind other developed countries and the International Energy Association has estimated that global
investment needs to increase by between two and five times current levels to meet 2050 climate targets. This means UK spending will need to increase substantially on current levels to keep up.
"The case for action is strong," said Professor Julia King, member of the CCC. "We urge the Government to put the appropriate low carbon technology support arrangements in place to unlock environmental and wider economic benefits".
The six technologies the CCC argues R&D funding should be prioritised for are offshore wind – up to £50 million a year – wave and tidal, CCS, smart grids, aviation and electric vehicles. It said up to £800 million would be required to meet the CCC’s target to have 1.7 million electric cars on the road by 2020. To do this it said the Government needed to protect £230 million of funding for the purchase of electric cars.
Commenting on the report’s findings the Government;s Chief Scientific Adviser Professor Sir John Beddington said: "Innovation will be enormously important if the UK is to meet its climate change goals, and to do so affordably. We need to develop and deploy the most promising low carbon technologies quickly across all sectors. In times of austerity we must also make sure we invest public money to maximum effect. I welcome the Climate Change Committee’s advice in this critical area."
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