Ed Miliband's 'Great British refurb'

Friday, February 13, 2009

The Department of Energy and Climate Change has announced its intention to make all UK homes produce near zero carbon emissions by 2050. The new 'heat and energy saving strategy' aims to make improvements available to householders in every home in every street by 2030, with cavity wall and loft insulation available for all suitable properties by 2015.

Defra said the strategy – which will be open for consultation for 12 weeks and finalised later in the year – includes offering people "finance packages" to install energy efficiency measures and low-carbon heat and power sources, with repayment from part of the savings on energy bills linked to the property, rather than residents. There would also be guaranteed cash payments for small scale electricity generation and the payback for homeowners who switch to low-carbon technologies and save energy would start "from day one". Also, home energy audits would be introduced, along with qualifications for energy advisers and an accreditation scheme for installers.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said: "We need to move from incremental steps forward on household energy efficiency to a comprehensive national plan – the Great British refurb. Energy efficiency and low-carbon energy are the fairest routes to curbing emissions, saving money for families, improving our energy security and insulating us from volatile fossil fuel prices. We cannot afford not to act. Every home must be able to access the help and technology it needs, whether it be the installation of a ground or air source heat pump, solar-heating, solid wall insulation, or access to a district heating scheme. Most importantly, I want to ensure that help to meet the costs is available to people house by house, street by street, and that lower-income families don't miss out."

Housing minister Margaret Beckett said: "We don't only need more housing, we need better quality housing as well. These proposals can ensure that a more sustainable lifestyle is available to everyone, not just a luxury for those with the money to invest in the latest green gadgets."

Calling the plans "a major step forward", the Local Government Association said energy suppliers should pay a £500m annual charge to help fund a home insulation programme that would lift half a million people out of fuel poverty, save 10m households £280 a year on their energy bills, and create up to 20,000 new 'green' jobs.

LGA vice chairman Sir Jeremy Beecham said: "This extra money will lift the most needy out of fuel poverty, and protect the elderly and vulnerable. The energy suppliers have been asked to contribute more towards cutting carbon emissions and household bills, but this investment must not be a one-off gesture and the cost should not be passed on to consumers.

The renewable energy industry also welcomed Defra's announcement. Philip Wolfe, director general of the Renewable Energy Association, said that while he liked the "very positive, visionary and ambitious" strategy, there have been "over five years of consultations and no action to date" on renewable heat technologies.

"The economic crisis provides an additional case for accelerated action in this area," he said. "Government has just committed £2.9bn to the UK's car makers – a similar sum in sustainable energy could therefore create about half a million jobs."

• The levels of air pollutants in the UK are continuing to go down, according to statistics released by Defra (Department for Environment, Food And Rural Affairs).

The figures show emissions of all gases covered in the UK Air Quality Strategy have fallen between 2006 and 2007, except for benzene, as have emissions of all persistent organic pollutants. Emissions of metals have been relatively stable between 2006 and 2007, with some small increases and some decreases.

In particular, sulphur dioxide has gone down by nearly 12 per cent and lead by over 14 per cent while levels of both Nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide have gone down by just under seven per cent.