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The Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) and the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have published new departmental plans, detailing the UK's energy and environmental policy priorities from 2015-2020.
The plans outline how Decc and Defra will spend their annual budgets, of £3.3 billion and £2 billion respectively in 2015/16.
Decc said it will help the UK “deliver an energy infrastructure fit for the 21st century”, keeping bills “as low as possible for families and businesses” and pushing for ambitious international action on climate change “to safeguard our long-term economic and national security”.
Specifically, Amber Rudd’s department will “ensure the UK has a secure and resilient energy system” by driving a “significant expansion of new nuclear”; considering new smart technologies such as energy storage and demand-side response; supporting fracking to supplement gas production from the North Sea; and doubling funding for energy innovation.
Challenges and opportunities
On renewables, Decc highlighted the changes it has made to the Renewables Obligation (RO) and Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) subsidy schemes, which form part of a package of measures the government claims will reduce the projected cost of green policies on the average annual household energy bill by £30 from 2017.
Decc’s 5000-word plan has just one sentence on carbon capture and storage (CCS) – the Department said it will consider the advice from Lord Oxburgh’s CCS Advisory Group as it explores its future approach to the technology. Decc also said the government could support up to 10GW of offshore wind in the 2020s, “if the technology can move quickly to cost-competitiveness”.
The Department added that there remains “significant, untapped potential” for energy savings in the business sector, particularly in light of the Business Energy Tax Review which is the government is expected to respond to in the 2016 Budget. Decc said it will be spending £295 million in public sector energy efficiency over the next five years, “to cut energy costs, save carbon and free up resources for other priorities”.
A key challenge in the plan, Decc said, is decarbonising the UK’s heating supplies. The Department said it will be providing more than £300 million of funding for local heat infrastructure over the next five years, and increasing funding for the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) to £1.15 billion by 2020 to 2021.
Internationally, Decc said it will continue working with the EU to ensure the ongoing development of the Energy Union, and will £2 billion of the UK’s £5.8 billion funding through the International Climate Fund between 2016 and 2021, to help the world’s poorest countries adapt to climate change.
Defra’s plans
Meanwhile, Defra’s new plan will help the Department “unleash the economic potential of food and farming, nature and the countryside, champion the environment and provide security against floods, animal and plant diseases and other hazards”.
Liz Truss’ department looks set to increase its work on natural capital, with a comprehensive 25-year plan for the Natural Capital Committee due later this year; and the life of that Committee being extended to at least 2020.
On flooding, Defra will invest £2.3 billion by 2021 – an increase from the £1.7 billion spend over the past five years – to better protect more than 300,000 homes.
Defra also confirmed it will spend £3 billion under the Common Agricultural Policy to enhance England’s countryside, and invest £100 million into environmental schemes to remediate contaminated land, restore important peatland habitats and increase woodland planting.
This news story originally appeared on edie.net
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