Philip Dunne writes for The Times ‘Red Box’ section.
Tomorrow is the International Day of Climate Action. There is no shortage of public enthusiasm for protecting our environment, as is clear from the climate emergency declarations across the country and the recent Climate Assembly UK report, whose members urged a timely path to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The government’s rhetoric is similarly ambitious, pledging to be an environmental world leader and being the first major economy to legislate for net-zero by 2050.
But to meet these goals, we need to start seeing more action from the government. The environmental audit committee, which I chair, has been considering how new, or lesser used, technologies can lead the UK to net zero.
Offshore wind power, which the prime minister endorsed during his speech at Conservative Party conference, could play a significant role. We have over 40 wind farms and about 2,200 turbines in UK waters, and last year they generated 10 per cent of all UK electricity. My committee found we can do much more, with a real prospect of meeting the prime minister’s ambition for all UK homes to be powered by wind by 2030.
The UK has the expertise and the technology, but my committee heard that what is missing is a clear strategy and roadmap of investible projects that industry can get behind. Connectivity to the grid and the right infrastructure for the enormity of modern turbines is another challenge. Without addressing these monumental issues, the wind could be knocked out of the prime minister’s ambitious sails.
My committee also looked at hydrogen as a low-carbon fuel. There is rapidly growing enthusiasm for hydrogen as a potential source of energy for mobility, from buses to trains to planes, and for industrial use to help decarbonise the economy. We are seeing new projects blending hydrogen in gas mains, removing any disruption for consumers needing to purchase new appliances. At the moment, however, 95 per cent of hydrogen is produced using fossil fuels. For a green future, we must make as much carbon neutral hydrogen as possible underpinned by a longer-term hydrogen strategy.
We have just launched the latest phase of our inquiry considering technological innovations: heat pumps. Although heat pumps date from around the time of the first refrigerator, they account for only 1 per cent of residential heating systems in the UK. The problem? Gas heating systems are significantly cheaper, so there is little in the way of incentives. As with many other renewables, however, the running costs of heat pumps are set to decrease significantly over time, while the capital costs are high. We will be uncovering all the pros and cons of heat pumps and will deliver our verdict to the government in the coming months.
Whatever the make-up of our future energy mix, the natural environment must not be compromised. We heard only yesterday that land use change by the growing global population is a massive driver in the decline of precious ecosystems, and that worryingly, one million (out of an estimated eight million) plant and animal species face extinction.
The government has promised numerous strategies in the coming months setting out the path to net-zero. My only hope is that the proper focus on controlling the pandemic and deferral of a multi-year spending review does not deflect from pursuing progress on the real, tangible projects that the government and industry can work together on — otherwise reaching net-zero by 2050 will be nothing more than a pipe dream.