Greens see no role for gas in heating overhaul

Wind power would provide around 70 per cent of the UK’s electricity needs by 2030, the Green Party has pledged in its manifesto which also sees no need for any form of gas when heating is being replaced.

The party’s general election manifesto, launched in London this morning, pledges “new support and incentives” to accelerate wind energy development as part of its plans for a Green New Deal Bill.

The measures in the legislation, which is designed to get the UK on track to reduce climate emissions to net zero by 2030, would pave the way for wind to provide around 70 per cent of the UK’s electricity by that date, the party said.

It claimed that new support for solar, geothermal, tidal and hydro would allow these forms of renewable energy to make up the remainder.

The Greens would “transform” the planning system to support a “massive increase” in wind power and other renewable generation while working with the Crown Estate to open up more coastal waters for offshore wind and marine energy. The manifesto stresses that long-term profits from these assets would go to the UK government rather than energy firms.

The Greens would also apply a carbon tax on all fossil fuel imports, rising over the next decade, and connect the UK’s electricity supply “more closely” with neighbouring countries, particularly Norway and Iceland with their abundant geothermal and hydro power resources.

The manifesto pledges to expand the UK’s short-term energy storage capacity, including heat as hot water in cylinders, and to double the capacity of the grid.

On housing, the manifesto gives more details on the Greens’ plans to build 100,000 new homes for social rent (council homes) a year, built to the Passivhaus or an equivalent standard, which all new buildings would have to comply with in order to secure planning permission.

The Greens say they would reduce the use of natural gas for heating homes by replacing existing boilers with renewable heat from heat pumps, and solar thermal, geothermal, biomass and stored heat technologies.

In addition, the Greens would improve the energy efficiency of one million existing homes and other buildings a year to better than the Energy Performance Certificate A rating. The party would install solar panels on an equivalent number of homes.

On water, the Greens say they would enforce stricter penalties for polluters and over-extraction with companies required to invest in conserving water and capturing surpluses so that they can be transported across the country.

Jonathan Bartley, co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, described the party’s proposed Green New Deal as the “most ambitious proposed anywhere in the world”.

He said: “While the other parties are trying to catch up, we’re still racing ahead, reaching new horizons.”