27 Nov 07

The new report sets out how carbon emissions from homes can be reduced dramatically

A new report by Oxford University is calling on the government to increase spending to £12.9 billion a year for at least 10 years to cut carbon emissions from UK homes by 80 per cent by 2050.

The report Home Truths is launched today by author Dr Brenda Boardman from Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute. Commissioned by Friends of the Earth and The Co-operative Bank, it assesses the government’s record and sets out a blueprint for reducing carbon emissions from homes, while also cutting heating bills, and providing non-carbon sources of energy and increased fuel security.
 
The report outlines a comprehensive policy framework at local, national and EU level, for cutting carbon emissions from new and existing homes. It suggests that householders should be offered financial incentives to encourage them to cut their energy use and produce their own green energy; incentives could include grants, low interest loans, stamp duty rebates and a reduction in VAT on energy efficiency. Another recommendation is that every home in the UK should have at least one low or zero carbon technology (LZC), such as solar panels. In return, householders should be rewarded with a guaranteed premium price for any electricity they sell back to the grid.

Local authorities are being urged to create low-carbon zones as a way of providing warm homes for people on low incomes, with a street-by-street programme of improvements to upgrade the fabric of the buildings and provide better insulation. Another key recommendation in the report is that minimum standards for energy performance be set for all homes in the UK, with the standard being gradually tightened over successive years.

The report estimates that by 2016 three million homes, which are so cold they are officially a health hazard, will have been upgraded, and by 2050 the rate of heat loss in the average house will be halved.

Home Truths finds that current government policies will only deliver cuts in household carbon emissions of between 11 and 18 per cent by 2020; barely half the 30 per cent reduction needed to reach their targeted reduction of 60 per cent by 2050.

The report is launched today to coincide with the start of a parliamentary debate on the government’s Climate Change Bill.    

Report author, Dr Brenda Boardman, said: ‘This report sets out a win-win scenario. It shows that we can make huge cuts in emissions from UK housing and that we can do this in a way, which wipes out fuel poverty and ensures everyone has a warm, comfortable, low-carbon home. The government needs to drive this transformation. It needs to provide the political commitment and financial support to turn this report into reality.’