The UK government has reduced the energy efficiency improvement targets for horticulture and poultry sectors after lobbying from the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), sparking criticism from environmental experts.
The original targets were 40.9% for horticulture and 12% for poultry, set by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) to cut the carbon footprint of the farming sector, which accounts for about 10% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.
The revised targets are 13% for horticulture and 10% for poultry, which the NFU calls “fair and realistic” and “a win for collaboration and sustainable energy practices”. The NFU says the new targets reflect the “unique challenges” faced by the sectors, such as the need to maintain optimal growing conditions and animal welfare.
The energy efficiency targets are voluntary and part of the climate change agreement scheme, which gives a discount on the climate change levy, a tax on electricity and fuel bills, to those who participate. The scheme covers 53 industrial sectors and aims to save 19 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2020.
However, experts from the thinktank Green Alliance warn that diluting the targets will cost growers more in the long run as they will have to pay high energy prices and lose competitiveness to imports. They also say that investing in renewables would be a better way to reduce reliance on imported energy and bring bills down for consumers.
The UK has been successful in cutting carbon emissions from electricity generation by around three-quarters since 1990, due to a declining use of fossil fuels and an increasing use of renewables and nuclear power. The government has pledged that all of the UK’s electricity will come from low carbon sources by 2035 and has plans to expand offshore wind, solar power and nuclear reactors.
However, the government’s independent advisers, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), have called the UK’s efforts “worryingly slow” and warned that the UK risks missing its net zero target by 2050 without clearer planning and much faster action. The CCC says the UK needs to cut its emissions by 78% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels, which is equivalent to reducing emissions by 15% every year from now on.
The UK still relies heavily on fossil fuels for its total energy needs, which include things like petrol cars and gas heating. Buildings account for about 17% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, mainly due to burning fossil fuels for heating.
The government has committed to installing 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028 to replace gas boilers. Heat pumps use electricity rather than gas and are more efficient than boilers. They work by extracting heat from the air, ground or water and transferring it to the home. The government is offering grants of £5,000 to help homeowners in England and Wales install a heat pump.
Despite the push for more renewable energy, the government is granting 100 oil and gas production licences for the North Sea, saying it wants to reduce the UK’s reliance on imported energy from “hostile states” and that some fossil fuels will still be needed when net zero is reached. The government says it will ensure that any new oil and gas projects are compatible with its climate goals and that it will support workers and communities to transition to low carbon industries.
The CCC says the expansion of fossil fuel production “is not in line with net zero” and that the UK should phase out oil and gas extraction as soon as possible. The CCC says the UK should limit its oil and gas production to 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent by 2050, which is about half of the current reserves.
The UK government’s decision to lower the energy efficiency targets for farmers comes as the country prepares to host the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in November, where it hopes to persuade other nations to raise their ambition and action on tackling the climate crisis.
