ROOF Blog

Energy secretary Ed Miliband is to announce new legislation to meet UK targets on energy emissions. The biggest investment is expected to be in renewable energy –  wind farms and nuclear power stations –  but energy companies will pass on the cost which is estimated to add £230 to household energy bills.

The Confederation of Business Industry has said that delays in the planning system are discouraging major investment in renewable energy. It said little progress has been made in quickening up the planning process and that business was being prevented from investing in the new low-carbon technology. It wants the government to publish national policy statements to boost investor confidence.

More help to improve household’s energy efficiency will be made available as the government increases its carbon emissions reduction target scheme and introduces a new community energy saving programme. The schemes will take the energy efficiency improvement budget to £3.5 billion by the end of 2012.

The government’s definition of carbon neutral must be made easier for the public to understand, the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) said. It is calling for a kitemark accreditation in carbon emissions management and for carbon neutral standards to be evaluated periodically to reflect advancements.

Two London regeneration projects – Albert Basin and Elephant & Castle – have been named as two of the 16 founding projects of the international climate positive development programme, launched by Bill Clinton at an environmental summit in South Korea today. The project aims to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by having developers and local government work in partnership to come up with innovations for clean energy and waste management.

The planning system must not become a ‘tool for promoting economic development’, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) said, setting out its vision for the future of the English countryside. The CPRE describes the countryside it wants to see by 2026, its centenary year, as where urban regeneration contributes to green space, affordable housing, vibrant neighbourhoods and people-friendly transport. It expects more than two million ‘high quality homes’ will have been built and energy efficient buildings and low carbon communities would be commonplace. It also wants more planning decisions to be taken locally.

Meanwhile the House of Commons has backed a second reading of the Green Energy Bill, which will allow people to provide their own sustainable heat and power. The Bill requires the government to produce further strategy on the growth of the microregeneration sector and to get rid of red tape surrounding planning permissions for things like heat pumps and wind turbines.

Meanwhile, Wales has become the first part of the UK to enforce a national standard for sustainable buildings using the planning system. Housing developers will have to meet the code for sustainable homes level 3 in an attempt to cut carbon emissions and improve green standards of all new buildings.

The public strongly supports the government’s plans to ‘decarbonise’ the nation’s housing stock according to research by the Department of Energy and Climate Change. Researchers found householders are willing to ‘play their part’ in tackling climate change, and under the Great British Refurb plans, at least 7 million homes by 2020 and every home by 2030 will be offered whole house upgrades with energy efficiency and micro generation technologies. Individuals said they also want help with the up-front costs of decarbonising their homes through loans and grants, and they want fair target to take into account the diversity of the UK housing stock.

A study by the Economic and Social Research Council has said making existing homes energy efficient was a ‘herculean’ task and required radical action to bring about a 60 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050. The research calculated that to reduce emissions from existing homes by 40 per cent would require work to nearly 24 million buildings, and to complete the task within 40 years would need to refurbish an area the size of Cambridge every month. The study also found that energy saving devices do not always increase efficiency in a way that was expected.