Question

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of their 2020 carbon emissions reduction target they intend to achieve through the development of thermal heating capacity in the United Kingdom.

The Climate Change Act (2008) requires the Government to set legally binding ‘carbon budgets’ to meet the objective of reducing emissions by at least 80% in 2050 from 1990 levels. The Act requires that the UK’s emissions in the third carbon budget period, which covers 2020, are at least 34% below the 1990 baseline for emissions.

The Government has not set specific targets for how much of the emissions reductions required for each carbon budget should come from different emissions sources, for example heat, electricity or transport. This is to provide sufficient flexibility to ensure carbon savings are delivered across the economy in the most cost effective way.

However, DECC does produce projections of UK emissions that account for the impact of Government policies. The last projections published in September 2014 [1] showed that the UK was on track to meet the second (2013-17) and third (2018-22) budgets having already met the first carbon budget (2008-12).

In 2020, policies [2] which drive improvements in energy efficiency (across all sectors) are projected to contribute 61% of the total reduction in emissions and policies influencing the uptake of low-carbon heat technologies are projected to contribute 5%. Other policies such as Building Regulations also support the reduction of heat emissions from buildings for example through the requirement to install a condensing boiler in most cases when a boiler needs to be replaced.

[1] Updated Energy and Emissions Projections: 2014 (DECC)

[2] Source: Annex D of the Updated Energy and Emissions Projections (EEP): 2014 (DECC). Based on all policies listed in EEP, including those introduced before as well as after the publication of the Low Carbon Transition Plan (LCTP) 2009