UK can be zero carbon in 20 years, boost prosperity and employment
Sue Wheat
16th December 2009
Negotiators arguing at Copenhagen about the amount of emissions reductions they are willing to commit their countries to by 2020 may well be making their lives unnecessarily difficult it seems.
The UK has suggested 30 per cent cuts on 1990 levels, the EU has been hovering between 10 and 20 per cent and the US has suggested 17 per cent on 2005 levels (which equates to just three per cent on 1990 levels). None of these figures are in the draft text at all at the moment, however, due to the deadlock in negotiations.
But environmentalists in the UK have come up with a ‘vision of the future’, which they say proves we can be carbon neutral by 2020 – and there’s no reason why other countries, including the US, couldn’t do the same. Denmark environmentalists also revealed their zero carbon strategy in Copenhagen.
“We found there is enough energy out there to power a lean UK – if we are ‘energy smart’ we can do it on renewables, but we must reduce our consumption of energy too,” says Paul Allen, who wrote the 'Zero Carbon Britain' strategy for the Centre for Alternative Technology. Britain could be zero carbon in two decades, he insisted.
The Zero Carbon Britain plan will not only allow the UK to meet its emissions targets, but will also act as an economic stimulus. “We are talking about a Green New Deal. It will provide long-term employment, improve the balance of payments, and inject revenue into economy.”
Zero Carbon Britain’s plan involves two simultaneous processes ‘powering down’ the energy needed to deliver our everyday life needs and ‘powering up’ renewable energy sources.
According to Allen, through making significant changes in buildings, transport, agriculture and industry the UK could achieve 50 per cent reduction of emissions without substantial differences in lifestyle.
The powering down phase includes putting in motion decarbonising initiatives. Houses will use information communication technology (ICT) to maximize energy efficiency, and more visible metering to provide information on energy use. A range of tariffs will enable consumers to choose between high cost uninterruptible energy supplies and discounted rates where energy companies can control appliance use to balance demand – so called ‘smart energy’.
The plan suggests 'Tradable Energy Quotas' for business which are sold through auction, with less being available each year so that businesses will be highly motivated to make emissions cuts.
There will be a strong emphasis on combined heat and power (CHP) and the associated markets for heat. Mechanical power will be delivered almost entirely from electricity, but because demand for energy will be reduced by 50 per cent the country will be able to source its energy through renewable means.
“Wind, waves, tides, biomass, solar, geothermal – all of these are harvestable with current technology widely deployed in non-sensitive locations,” said Allen. “We have a huge gold mine of North Sea energy – it has enormous value. We can also capture energy from hills, roofs, gardens, islands, coasts, forests, rivers – all these will become energy and income generators. The more we have the cheaper they’ll be – it’s like laptops or any technology.”
Allen suggests an ‘energy index’ could persuade governments of the benefit of the plan, which would reflect the amount of money this renewable energy would inject into the UK economy.
“If we take £1 billion and subsidise cars to make them cheaper – everyone wants one – but in a few years time they end up in the scrap heap. If we put the same money into renewables we create the jobs and an income stream that pays back the taxpayer on the sale of the energy. This plan future-proofs the economy against price blocks and blockades.”
He is no doubt about the seismic changes involved, however. “It would make no sense to play down the scale of the challenge,” he says.
“What is required is a complete overhaul of energy use and natural resources. But in a time of rising unemployment and falling social cohesion such a challenge is precisely what is needed. Many of the jobs created would be solid ones of ongoing worth as they build the infrastructure, would cultivate the skills and build the enterprises that will be in increasing international demand over the next few decades.”