United Kingdom Climate Change Programme

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Climate Change Programme

[edit] Aim and progress

Global mean surface temperatures 1856 to 2005

The aims of the programme is not only to cut all greenhouse gas emissions by the agreed 12.5% from 1990 levels in the period 2008 to 2012 (the international commitment), but to go beyond this by cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 20% from 1990 levels by 2010.

When the original programme was published in 2000, it confirmed that UK emissions were already forecast to be around 15% lower by 2010.

As of March 2006, government projections (and in fact official energy policy of the United Kingdom) state that by 2010 the UK will have reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by about 15-18% below 1990 levels, thus missing the government's internal target but achieving its Kyoto Protocol target, with a projected reduction of emissions from the basket of all greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide) of about 23-25% from 1990 levels [3].

[edit] 2000 Climate Change Programme

The stated strategies of the 2000 programme were to:

Improve business’ use of energy, stimulate investment and cut costs;
Stimulate new, more efficient sources of power generation;
Cut emissions from the transport sector;
Promote better energy efficiency in the domestic sector, saving householders money;
Improve the energy efficiency requirements of the building regulations;
Continue cutting emissions from agriculture;
Ensure the public sector took a leading role.

[edit] Government actions

The following are among the actions taken to implement the strategy:

[edit] Climate Change levy

Current actions aimed at achieving these targets include a Climate Change Levy on all non-domestic energy bills, typically raising them by 8% to 10%. The Climate Change Levy however is offset by corresponding reductions in Employers' National Insurance Contributions (NICs) having a net zero effect on the tax burden on UK businesses.

Introduced on April 1, 2001, the levy applies to all 'traditional' energy sources, and the funds raised are collected by HM Revenue and Customs.

[edit] Renewables Obligation

Introduced on April 1, 2002, the Renewables Obligation requires all commercial electricity suppliers to supply a set portion of their electricity from renewables; a proportion that will increase each year until 2027 from a 3% requirement in 2002-2003, via 10.4% in 2010-2012 up to 15.4% by 2015-2016. The UK Government announced in the 2006 Energy Review an additional target of 20% by 2020-21. For each megawatt hour of renewable energy generated, a tradable certificate called a renewables obligation certificate(ROC) is issued. Suppliers can meet their obligation by:

acquiring ROCs
paying a buy-out price equivalent to £33.24/megawatt hour in 2006/07 and rising each year with retail price index;or
a combination of ROCs and paying a buy-out price.

When a supplier chooses to pay the buy-out price, the money they pay is put into the buy-out fund. At the end of the 12-month Obligation period, the buy-out fund is recycled to electricity suppliers presenting ROCS.

The renewables obligation also makes requirements about how the electricity can be generated. An example is that the co-firing of biomass with coal is to be phased out - and will not be eligible for Renewable Obligation Certificates after 2016 (although the government has announced its intention to revisit the co-firing rules as part of the 2006 Energy Review).

The renewables transport fuel obligation is a separate law, which although is not in force yet, is set to become law. It would require bio-ethanol and bio-diesel to be added to road fuel, up to a limit of 2 or 5.75%. The land required for this would be considerable. It has been estimated (by the NFU) that the biomass could be grown by using all of the UKs net wheat exports, and growing wheat on 120K ha of land.
While this may look like a large amount, it is achievable.

[edit] Housing and Community Grants

Grants to assist with the installation of renewable energy sources in domestic properties and for community groups were made available through the Clear Skies organisation, and the Major Photovoltaics Demonstration programme. In 2006 these were replaced by the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP).

[edit] Nottingham Declaration

Although not part of the central government programme, in local government, a growing number of councils have signed up to the Nottingham Declaration, launched on October 25, 2000, committing them to work towards reducing emissions.