In aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on a national scale, the government has published its Clean Growth Strategy. The document from the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), which outlines the government’s proposed approach to creating a lower carbon future for the UK. The document can be found by clicking here.

It may be a bit daunting to read through all 165 pages. To save you the job, specialist business gas supplier Flogas Britain has summarised the key points of the strategy and what this means for homes and businesses across the UK.

The UK Climate Change Commitment

The Clean Growth Strategy was proposed as a result of legislation introduced in 2008, the Climate Change Act, leading the UK to become the first country in the world to self-impose a legally binding carbon reduction target. The point was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by 2050 compared to levels in 1990.

BEIS had released figures in 2017 showing that overall carbon emissions across the UK had decreased by 42% since 1990, so the UK is making good progress towards the target. Although, the result is satisfying, the government recognises that there is plenty of work that needs to be done and that’s where proposals such as the Clean Growth Strategy comes in.

The main objectives of the Clean Growth Strategy

The strategy details a series of policies and proposals, which collectively aim to accelerate the process of ‘clean growth’ across the UK by first decreasing emissions and secondly increasing economic growth. The two guiding objectives underpinning the strategy are:

• Meeting domestic commitments at the lowest possible net cost for UK taxpayers, consumers and businesses.
• To maximise the social and economic benefits for the UK from this transition.

To make this a reality, the government is committed to roll out lower-carbon systems, technologies and processes through the UK in order to achieve these objectives. This time, the government is also determined to find the most cost-effective way possible for homes and business alike, by benefitting them with these lower-carbon solutions.

We need to do this for several of the reasons stated within the document. Firstly, we need to protect our businesses and households from high energy costs. Secondly, if we can develop low cost, low carbon technologies in the UK, we can secure the most industrial and economic advantage from the global transition to a low carbon economy. Thirdly, if we want to see other countries, particularly developing countries, follow our example, we need low carbon technologies to be cheaper and to offer more value than high carbon ones.

Key proposal of the document

There are six key areas focused on in the Clean Growth Strategy. These are collectively responsible for 100% of the UK’s carbon emissions and are as follows:

• Improving business and industry (25% of UK emissions)
• Improving our homes (13% of the UK emissions)
• Accelerating the shift to low-carbon transport (24% of the UK emissions)
• Delivering clean, smart, flexible power (21% of the UK emissions)
• Enhancing the benefits and value of our natural resources (15% of UK emissions)
• Leading the public sector (2% of UK emissions)

You can read the executive summary by clicking here.

How will homes and businesses be affected by the Clean Growth Strategy?

The proposals and objectives set out by the document are primarily to encourage homes, businesses and those in charge of industrial operations to reduce their carbon footprint through a wide selection of strategies, with the UK government offering plenty of support. A key focus is to reassess the fuels we use for jobs like heating, cooking and powering industrial and manufacturing processes, and embracing cleaner, greener alternatives.

In the long run, renewable technologies, which stand a good chance of becoming more appealing, include biomass boilers, heat pumps, solar panels, and cleaner fuels as opposed to more polluting alternatives. For off-grid homes and businesses, The Clean Growth Strategy sets out specific plans to phase out high-carbon forms of fossil fuel like oil. The lowest carbon conventional off-grid fuel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) will play a key part in replacing oil in rural parts of the UK.

Natural gas remains a popular choice for homes and businesses connected to the mains network. Not only because it’s affordable and easy accessible, it’s also because it’s the lowest-carbon fossil fuel available.

Flogas specialises in highly competitive commercial gas and expects to see this part of the business going from strength to strength. The company also predicts that the ‘green gas’ phenomenon (natural gas injected with a proportion of environmentally friendly biogas) will grow in popularity as the Clean Growth Strategy rolls out.

What reactions is the Clean Growth Strategy getting?

There have been a number of key industry figures that have already provided their support to the government’s strategy since it was unveiled.

“Oil & Gas UK welcomes the government’s commitment to technology in the strategy, especially with regards to carbon abatement measures such as carbon capture, usage and storage,”

acknowledged Mike Tholen, the Upstream Policy Director at trade body Oil & Gas UK.

“Oil & Gas UK looks forward to working with the government to see how these technologies can further reduce emissions across the economy.”