Environment Protection: Expenditure
(asked on 17th December 2015) - View Source
Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 15 December (HL Deb, col 1981), (1) what is the detailed breakdown of the figure of £122 billion spent annually in the UK on the low carbon economy, and (2) for each element of that figure, what proportion is spent by government, local government, business, individuals, and other bodies.
The size and performance of the UK low carbon economy report published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills [1] estimated that in 2013 the low carbon economy generated £70.8 billion in turnover [2] for those businesses operating directly in the sector. This grew to £121.7 billion when the supply chain is included. The breakdown of the £121.7 billion by sector for direct and indirect activity in 2013 is published in the report and is reproduced in Table 1 below. The report has not assessed the proportion of spend by different groups (e.g. government, local government, business, individuals, and other bodies) for these sectors.
Table 1: Turnover by sector: 2013 (£million nominal)
Sector of low carbon economy | Direct [3] Turnover | Indirect [4] Turnover | Total Turnover |
Onshore wind | 3,600 | 2,700 | 6,300 |
Offshore wind | 2,000 | 1,500 | 3,500 |
Nuclear energy | 7,700 | 4,400 | 12,100 |
Hydroelectric energy | 1,100 | 800 | 1,900 |
Marine | 200 | 200 | 400 |
Solar PV | 5,000 | 3,500 | 8,400 |
Energy generation from waste and biomass | 2,400 | 1,800 | 4,100 |
Carbon capture and storage | 400 | 200 | 600 |
Biomass equipment | 1,500 | 1,100 | 2,500 |
Geothermal | 500 | 300 | 800 |
Heat pumps | 1,900 | 1,300 | 3,100 |
Solar thermal | 500 | 300 | 800 |
Heat networks | 100 | 100 | 200 |
Energy-efficient lighting | 2,100 | 1,400 | 3,500 |
Insulation | 3,100 | 2,400 | 5,500 |
Energy-efficient windows and doors | 1,500 | 1,300 | 2,800 |
Heat recovery and ventilation | 900 | 600 | 1,500 |
Energy controls and control systems | 1,400 | 900 | 2,200 |
Sustainable architecture and buildings | 500 | 400 | 900 |
Low carbon advisory services | 1,700 | 1,100 | 2,800 |
Low carbon finance | 600 | 300 | 900 |
Recycling - recovery and reprocessing of materials from waste | 12,400 | 9,500 | 21,800 |
Alternative fuels | 15,200 | 10,900 | 26,100 |
Low emission vehicles | 4,600 | 4,200 | 8,800 |
Total low carbon | 70,800 | 50,900 | 121,700 |
Source: BIS (March 2015); the Size and Performance of the UK Low Carbon Economy
[1] BIS (March 2015), The Size and Performance of the UK Low Carbon Economy https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/low-carbon-economy-size-and-performance
[2] Turnover is defined as total revenues generated from business activities.
[3] Direct activity is that immediately connected to one or more of the low carbon sectors. For example, this would include companies which manufacture wind turbines or develop
[4] Indirect activity is that which occurs in the supply chain and supports activity in the direct low carbon sector. Although companies in the supply chain were not identified explicitly, their economic impact was estimated using multipliers.