Full speed ahead for 10-point climate emergency plan

A ten-point plan to tackle the climate emergency is a good start, says a Midlands green energy expert.

“But it is just the beginning of a long and difficult journey with many problems on the road ahead,” said Ron Fox.

He was commenting on the Government’s self-styled green industrial revolution announced in Parliament last week.

The main points of the scheme are:

• A pledge to end the sale of petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, ten years ahead of the previous schedule. But the sale of some hybrid cars and vans will continue until 2035. There will also be grants for electric cars, and funding for charge points.
• Gas boilers will be banned in all newly-built homes within three years. Replacing the boilers in existing homes would be phased out by 2035.
• Offshore wind farms have the capacity to generate 10 gigawatts, about a tenth of the country’s electricity needs. The Government wants to quadruple this by 2030, to 40GW, enough to power every UK home.
• Moves to boost hydrogen production with £500 million funding including the promise of a town heated entirely by hydrogen by the end of the decade.
• Investment of £525m towards new nuclear power based on “the next generation of small and advanced reactors.”
• £1bn next year to insulate homes and public buildings, using the existing green homes grant and public sector decarbonisation scheme. Ministers want to install 600,000 heat pumps a year in buildings and homes by 2028. At present 30,000 a year are fitted.
• On public transport the Government has promised to build thousands of miles of cycle lanes and to double the number of cyclists by 2023 compared to the 2013 figures. They also want to introduce at least 4,000 electric and hydrogen buses and to electrify more of Britain’s railway to get rid of diesel trains and buses. On planes full-scale hydrogen flights is years away because the technology is in its infancy. But in the medium term the plan is to create greener jet fuels instead of the kerosene used at present.
• An extra £200m is to be invested in carbon capture initiatives and by 2030 the government wants to see four “clusters” to trap and dispose of carbon dioxide emissions from industrial sites.
• 30,000 hectares of trees to be planted every year as part of nature conservation efforts which will also see new national parks and Areas of Outstanding National Beauty and more protection for wildlife.
• Politicians expect the 10-point plan will create up to 250,000 jobs, with many in the Midlands, the north of England, Scotland and Wales.

“The plan now needs more details to turn into a detailed road map so we can reach our destination and turn all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050,” said Ron, of Noreus Ltd on the University of Keele Science and Innovation Park.

For more details about green energy call Ron on 01782 756995