Energy efficiency policies ‘could save UK homes £270’, says new report
Carbon Brief reports that UK homeowners could cut their yearly bills by hundreds of pounds by making their properties more energy efficient.
A new report says: “Cost-effective” investments up to 2035 could save a quarter of the energy used by households, the UK Energy Research Council (UKERC) report says, worth an average of £270 per household per year at current energy prices. This would come on top of savings already made.
Around 140 terawatt hours (TWh) of energy would be saved – roughly equivalent to the output of six Hinkley C-sized nuclear power stations, it notes, though savings would be in heat as well as power.
The investments would deliver net benefits worth £7.5bn to the UK, the analysis found, using the government’s own guidance for policy appraisal. This could reach £47bn, if benefits such as health improvements and additional economic activity are counted.
The report calls for the government to set a long term target for energy efficiency – in a similar way as it recently pledged to ban petrol cars by 2040.
Read the article in full on Carbon Brief.
