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Government Minister high lights Green Deal

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Posted on November 25, 2010 by ecoadmin 


Energy efficiency is the crucial issue

It seems that there’s a clear recognition in the coalition Government that tackling climate change, securing our future energy supplies and making a permanent transition to a low carbon, high growth economy, is an urgent and vital task.

Energy efficiency lies at the very heart of our strategy. It means being smarter about the energy we use – making the most of a precious resource and eliminating waste.

But it’s also a policy that’s long been ignored, writes Energy and Climate Change Minister, Greg Barker, with homes and businesses across Britain wasting energy and money.

The Government’s Green Deal is about providing a long term solution to this intractable problem.

It’s the biggest shake-up in the history of energy efficiency. It will be more ambitious than anything that’s ever been tried before. It will reduce energy wastage and save people and business money. It will create jobs, reduce CO2 emissions and help secure energy supplies for future generations.

The idea is to get to high street companies people already known to provide the finance for trusted and accredited advice, and installation of energy efficiency measures in homes and businesses. Customers benefit from homes and business premises that are cheaper to run from day one!

Through legislation to be presented to Parliament before Christmas, we want the finance to be tied to the energy meter. People will pay back the costs over time through their energy bills, with the payments being less than the savings on bills.

The Green Deal will be available whether people own or rent and, because it’s not like personal debt, personal credit ratings are not a factor.

The Green Deal will be a bigger national drive than putting on the London Olympics. Just as the Games are closing in 2012, we will be kick-starting an energy efficiency overhaul of homes and businesses across the country.

The Green Deal has the potential to support up to 250,000 jobs by 2030 as part of a new energy efficient industrial revolution. Insulation installers and others in the retrofit supply chain all stand to benefit from this long overdue energy efficiency makeover.

And with millions of British homes and businesses requiring insulation, the Green Deal also offers a unique opportunity to help drive economic growth, unlocking billions of private investment every year.

With homes accounting for a quarter of all CO2 emissions, and energy bills in UK households standing at an average of £1,300 per year, improving energy efficiency and reducing bills in the process is a no brainer.

But we need legislation to make this happen. The Energy Security and Green Economy Bill will be introduced by the end of 2010 to legislate so that payment of the costs can be made through a charge on the energy bill. Households and businesses would only pay while occupying the property and enjoying the benefits.

In parallel, we’ll also ensure that the major energy companies remain obliged to invest in energy improvements for homes across the country. This means that, for the poorest and most vulnerable, or those living in properties that are particularly hard to treat, there’ll be extra support to help people benefit from the measures that the Green Deal has to offer.

Photo shows Greg Barker

More information: www.decc.gov.uk/

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One Response to “Government Minister high lights Green Deal”

  1. ecoadmin says:

    November 25th, 2010 at 10:31 am
     

    Reducing carbon emissions and grasping the consequences of climate change are extremely important to the future of our small planet! Does the coalition government really have the ongoing enthusiasm to make the Green Deal survive or is it just part of the progress.

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