We need to be smart about our low carbon transition

So the government’s big low carbon transition plan was launched yesterday mapping out how we’ll achieve emissions cuts of 34% by 2020. It’s a beast of a document at over 200 pages, but any strategy that promises the creation of 1.2 Million “green jobs” isn’t going to be able to tell you how on a couple of sides of A4. Overall it seems to do a good job of pulling together previously disparate policies in to a coherent transition plan and we at Intellect welcome that. I’ve included a useful summary list from The Guardian of all the big ideas below and we’re particularly pleased to see the reinforced commitment to smart metering and smart grids.

However, ICT and associated technologies are critical enablers of this transition and don’t seem to get much of a mention elsewhere. Maybe that’s fair enough when the document points out that half of the proposed carbon cuts by 2020 would come from changes to the power sector. But the 15% that will come from making homes more efficient, 10% from workplace improvements, and 20% from changing how we travel (the other 5% from agriculture and land use) will also benefit from ICT applications. The problem here is the lack of a market for these already available technologies and we must be smarter at addressing how we tackle this.

By Laurence Harrison, Energy and Environment Director

Summary points:

• Plans are projected to create 1.2m “green jobs”
• Every government department will be required to meet a carbon budget alongside its financial budget.
• Domestic energy prices would rise in 2020 to pay for some of the required changes. Hopes are this would be offset with energy efficiency savings in 7m homes and financial help for the poorest consumers.
• launches consultation on the details of the government’s feed-in tariff, re-named the “clean energy cash-back” scheme, which will pay people and businesses a premium for generating low-carbon electricity. A similar scheme for renewable heat will follow in April 2011.
• Introduces plans for a “pay as you save” scheme for homeowners to receive loans to insulate their homes, with money repaid by savings in energy costs.
• Up to £6m to start development of a “smart grid”, including a policy road map next year.
• Launch of the new Office for Renewable Energy Deployment in the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to speed up the growth of renewables in the UK.
• DECC to take direct responsibility from Ofgem for establishing a new grid access regime within 12 months.
• Up to £180m would be made available to promote wind and tidal power – this includes setting up a low-carbon economic area in the south-west to promote marine technologies and money for up to 3,000 wind turbines off the UK’s shores by 2020.
• £15m to establish a Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre that will develop the next generation of nuclear power infrastructure.
• £10 million will go to improving infrastructure for charging electric vehicles.
• Challenging 15 villages, towns or cities to be test-beds for piloting future green initiatives.