ENERGY WHITE PAPER - POWERING OUR NET-ZERO

HOW UK WILL REACH NET ZERO EMISSIONS BY 2050

ENERGY WHITE PAPER - POWERING OUR NET-ZERO

The government’s White Paper entitled ‘Powering Our Net-Zero Future’ offers comprehensive plans for transforming the UK’s energy to cleaner and greener that is consistent with net-zero emissions by 2050, while building a green recovery of the UK economy following the coronavirus pandemic.

This will be achieved by supporting thousands of green jobs across the country in new green industries and leveraging new green export opportunities. The Paper also emphasises that the Government will focus on creating a fairer and more affordable deal for consumers, protecting the fuel poor, providing opportunities to save money on bills, giving warmer, more comfortable homes and balancing investment against bill impacts.

The Paper includes what has already been detailed in the Ten Point Plan and National Infrastructure Strategy and will be followed by lots of further consultations next year.

No one doubts the challenge of achieving net-zero emissions, but the UK is able to build on 30 years of successfully reducing emissions while simultaneously creating economic growth. The plan means ending dependency on oil to power nearly half of the economy. Clean electricity will become the predominant form of energy, entailing a potential doubling of electricity demand and consequently a fourfold increase in Low Carbon electricity generation.

The measures in this white paper will reduce emissions from power, buildings, industry, upstream oil and gas, and address the implications for the energy system of electrifying surface transport. Further details will be published in a Transport Decarbonisation Plan in the spring. Delivering this transition will require billions of pounds of investment in clean energy infrastructure or new Low Carbon technologies and a major shift away from spending in fossil fuels. New clean power will be generated with offshore wind farms, nuclear plants and by investing in new hydrogen technologies.

The vision is of a system with consumers at its heart, able to make money or save on bills through using the new technologies net-zero will require.

Action on energy will be consistent with the UK’s wider environmental commitments, as it balances new technologies and the need for new infrastructure with protecting the environment, including air quality. The UK has also positioned itself as a leader in the global drive to environmental targets.

The Paper states the government’s goals in each key area:

  • Consumers

It is committed to making the right reforms that will protect the interests of consumers and create opportunities to reduce bills and carbon emissions

  • Power

Electricity is a key enabler for the transition away from fossil fuels and decarbonising the economy cost-effectively by 2050.

  • Energy System

To deliver energy reliably, while ensuring fair and affordable costs and accelerating the UK’s transition to clean energy, the requirement is to create investment opportunities across the UK to enable a smarter, more flexible energy system, which harnesses the power of competition and innovation to the full.

Specifically with regard to Transport, the Department for Transport will publish its plan to decarbonise the UK’s entire transport system in Spring 2021, putting us on a pathway to reach net-zero.

  • Buildings

Delivering a net-zero target means largely eliminating emissions from domestic and commercial buildings by 2050.

  • Industrial Energy

By 2050, emissions from industry will need to fall by around 90 per cent from today’s levels.

  • Oil and Gas

Delivering a net-zero target by 2050 means transforming the oil and gas sector in the UK.

The Paper provides a summary of its key commitments in each of these areas at the end of each chapter.

The plan, despite being highly ambitious, is likely to need substantial further development to reach net-zero by 2050. However, it seeks to transform the UK’s approach to power in such a way as to lead other nations to meet the global environmental targets, while driving domestic economic growth and providing a fairer and more affordable energy offering to the consumer.

Click here to find out more about the Energy White Paper. 

 

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