The U.K. unveiled its net zero strategy on Tuesday as it tries to demonstrate its green credentials ahead of crucial climate talks later this month. It will make taxes from electricity to gas, fund carbon capture and offer grants for cleaner home heating.
It estimates the cost of the transition could be 1 - 2% of GDP by 2050, and moving away from fossil fuels will also hit tax revenue. The government expects the strategy to create 440,000 jobs by 2030, and wants to leverage 90 billion dollars of private investment on the same time frame.
The measures so far are grouped by years:
The U.K. aims to make electricity bill cheaper, by moving environmental taxes onto gas as part of efforts to encourage electrification.
We want to reduce electricity prices so when the current gas spike subsides we will look at options to shift energy from electric to gas over this decade, it said in a strategy document.
It will also look at furthering carbon price as part of the review.
If renewable power is produced by 2035, the government wants to be carbon-free.
What will require total public and private investment of 280 to 400 billion pounds in generator capacity and flexible assets like batteries. Grids will have an additional 20 to 30 billion pounds by 2037.
The government has earmarked two greenfield projects to get funding by mid-2020 s. It is estimated about 1 billion pounds for four carbon capture project — a technology that is crucial for reaching net zero goals, but the sites will still be subject to value-for-money tests in the future.
This funding could help drastically reduce emissions from some of Britain s biggest polluting industries. And by choosing areas with the most industrial activity, it opens up the possibility for many businesses to use the same infrastructure, reducing cost.
Two programmes aimed at the UK were the East Coast Cluster and Hynet. For the Eastern Coast Cluster, a consortium of BP Plc, Equinor ASA, Eni SpA, National Grid Plc, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and TotalEnergies SE plan to develop the offshore infrastructure to transport and store CO2 in the U.K.'s North Sea with BP as the operator.
Biden Climate Summit Made Progress. Read more from Tidewater & Biden. Hynet plans to produce clean hydrogen and capture and store CO2 from energy-intensive industries. The project comprises Progressive Energy, Cadent Gas Ltd. Essar oil U.K. Ltd. Eni and Cadent Fertilisers U.K. Ltd.
The U.K. aims to capture a total of 20-30 million tons of carbon a year in the economy by early 2030, more than double the previous ambition and at least 50 Million Tons by mid 2030's.
A 3.9 billion-pound plan to reduce carbon emissions from the U.K.'s homes and offices is a long awaited plank of net zero strategy. Homeowners will receive 5,000 pounds to install heat pumps, though the money available so far accounts for about 90,000 homes only. That s still some way behind the government target for 600,000 installations a year by 2028.
The idea is that costs will come down, making pump less affordable over time. The goal is that no new gas boilers will be sold by 2035.
Without improved insulation, many in the industry say that heat pumps will be expensive and inefficient. There may be additional details on complementary measures in the Chancellor's Spending Review later this month.
The government aims to end sales of new cars in 2030 and on Tuesday set out an additional 970 million pounds in existing grants between industry and consumer groups.
The U.K. will secure a final investment decision to build a large nuclear plant in 2024. It will launch a new 120 million-pound Future Nuclear Enabling Fund — a small amount for nuclear, but the idea is to keep options open including small modular reactors with a number of potential sites including Wylfa in North Wales.
There are 124 million pounds allocated to help meet a commitment to restore 280,000 acres of peat in the U.K. by 2050 and triple woodland creation in England to reach 30,000 hectares a year across England by 2024.
The U.K. is also creating a new set of rules to prevent greenwashing and protect investors from being deceived by false claims about climate-friendly investing.
We want sustainability to be a key part of investment decisions, and our plans will arm investors with the right information to make more environmental-led choices, announced Rishi Sunak in a statement late Monday.
The U.K. is also set to force companies to demonstrate how they will reach net zero goals by 2050, Bloomberg reported last week. The so-called Greening Finance plan will require firms to release transition plans or explain why they aren t doing so.
Bill Gates announced a 200 million-dollar partnership with Boris Johnson to boost green investment across the U.K. pledging to rapidly scale up new clean technologies. The U.K. has already committed to at least 200 million pounds and Gates Project will match that investment.
Gates program focuses on four technology areas: sustainable energy storage, long-term flights fuels and systems for capturing CO 2 directly from the air.