The UK should aim to cut its carbon emissions to 60 per cent of 1990 levels by 2030, says the government鈥檚 (CCC). To achieve this, they want to fundamentally reform the UK鈥檚 electricity markets to encourage the building of clean power stations.
The 2030 cuts would be a key step on the road to the government鈥檚 legally binding target of an , as set out in the . So far growing emissions from imported goods have outweighed cuts in power plant emissions .
Power, power everywhere
The CCC recommends building 25 low-carbon power stations in the 2020s. 鈥淭hat is really challenging but not unprecedented,鈥� says Kennedy, who points out that in France .
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The new UK power stations will all be either nuclear or offshore wind farms, though there may also be some carbon capture from fossil fuel plants by the late 2020s.
To ensure this happens, the CCC wants a fundamental reform of the UK鈥檚 electricity market. At present the system is extremely liberal, with customers able to .
This is not the best way to ensure that electricity supply is decarbonised, according to the CCC鈥檚 chief executive , as suppliers do not have the long-term security that would encourage them to build large numbers of new stations.
Instead, the government should tender long-term contracts for low-carbon power generation. The government would commit to buy a certain amount of power, and private companies would bid for a contract to build a new power station to supply it. The contracts would last as long as the station operated, up to 40 years.
Hot air?
The CCC says its proposals should only cost 1 per cent of GDP in 2030, meaning that the economy鈥檚 growth would only be delayed by six months. But will they happen? The government is not bound by them, though it does have to legislate for a 2030 target by the end of June.
鈥淲hat the government does will be a test of their green credentials,鈥� Kennedy says. 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 got the arrangements in place to drive electricity decarbonisation, and that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e looking for.鈥�
, the secretary of state for energy and climate change, said in a statement: 鈥淲e know that the status quo will not be enough to cut carbon which is why we are planning to undertake a comprehensive review of the electricity market.鈥�
