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Labour leader to announce plan to beef up energy efficiency programs, reinstate DECC, and generate 65 per cent of UK power from renewables by 2030 Jeremy Corbyn will today launch his environment manifesto, pledging to set a target date to end fossil fuel extraction, ban fracking, make energy efficiency a national infrastructure priority, and source 65 per cent of power from renewables by 2030. He is also set to announce plans for a surge in public and community-owned renewable energy development and measures to promote the growth of local energy companies to challenge the ''Big Six''. However, the launch of the new plans was mired in confusion, after the Corbyn campaign initially indicated it was aiming to deliver 65 per cent of energy, rather than electricity, from renewables by 2030. Experts noted that getting 65 per cent of energy from renewables by 2030 would be enormously ambitious, while sourcing 65 per cent of power from renewables could result in higher emissions than current plans if Corbyn maintains his opposition to new nuclear reactors and carbon capture and storage technologies are not deployed at scale within a decade. A spokesman for the Corbyn campaign confirmed the target was for electricity. We are setting a decarbonisation target of the power system reaching an average of 50g carbon intensity per kWh by 2030, he told BusinessGreen. The 65 per cent by 2030 [target] is a minimum and as the cost of renewables falls we will look to expand, looking at the most cost effective way of meeting the 2030 decarbonisation goal. Corbyn, who is entering the final stretch of the Labour leadership race with polls showing he continues to enjoy a healthy lead over rival Owen Smith, will today launch the new environment manifesto at an event in Nottingham. We want Britain to be the world''s leading producer of renewables technology, he is reportedly expected to say. To achieve this, we will accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy and drive the expansion of the green industries and jobs of the future using our National Investment Bank to invest in public and community-owned renewable energy. He will also argue that the new plan puts the new energy economics of sharply falling renewable energy costs at the heart of UK energy policy. This will deliver clean energy and curb energy bill rises for households; an energy policy for the 60 million, not the big six energy companies, he will say. The new manifesto is also expected to feature a commitment to reinstate the Department of Energy and Climate Change, plans to plant 64 million trees over 10 years, and a firm commitment to ban fracking in the UK on the grounds it is not compatible with action on climate change. We will act to protect the future of our planet, with social justice at the heart of our environment policies he is expected to say. In addition, it confirms a Labour government under Corbyn would match all EU environmental directives if Britain leaves the EU and oppose any Brexit deal that curbs environmental protections, which some leading Leave campaigners have argued should be scrapped. The plan also promises a major boost to the community energy and energy efficiency sectors, promising to support the emergence of 1,000 new community energy co-operatives by providing funding for grid connections and vowing to make energy efficiency a national infrastructure - a move that would open up the possibility of Treasury funds being used to support plans to insulate four million homes to high energy efficiency standards. We will launch a publicly funded National Home Insulation programme that would see at least four million homes insulated, Corbyn will say. This would create tens of thousands of jobs across every community, reducing the need for expensive new energy generation, and helping millions of people to save money on their bills. The Corbyn campaign indicated the new investment could be funded through Labour''s proposed National Investment Bank and government investment that could take advantage of exceptionally cheap capital costs for government projects. A spokesman for Owen Smith told the BBC it wasimpossible for Jeremy Corbyn to speak with credibility on environmental policy. He has called for the reintroduction of deeply damaging open-cast coal mining and only had one meeting with his shadow environment team in nine months as leader, he added. |
