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Insulation plays a key role in the proposed Green Deal
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The Green Deal scheme promises to radically overhaul the energy efficiency of homes and small businesses, supporting up to 250,000 jobs by 2030, seemingly by focusing on improving insulation in our buildings.
In the speech Huhne admitted that the economic circumstances mean the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has had to look for new solutions and 'pioneering new ways of turning this Government into the greenest ever'.
He said: "We use more energy to heat our homes than Sweden, where it’s seven degrees colder in January. We might as well be standing outside burning £50 notes." The Green Deal, Huhne explained, will use the money saved on energy bills to pay for insulation.
But it won't just be about insulation, Huhne also mentioned plans for growth in generating low-carbon electricity, to power vehicles and also technologies such as heat pumps.
He explained: "Forty miles from here, at Gwynt y Mor, they’ll start building a new offshore wind farm next year, big enough to power a third of the homes in Wales. I want to see this again and again round Britain’s coasts. And there is huge potential too for other renewables: energy from waste, wave, tidal power, and solar. Much of this will be local as it is in Germany."
He made no promises concerning the Renewable Heat Incentive but did pledge to improve the UK's standing when it comes to renewables. He said: " In Europe’s class of 27 on renewable energy, Britain is the dunce in the corner: we are 25th. Only Malta and Luxembourg are worse. I make you this promise now: by the end of this Parliament, we will be Europe’s fastest improving pupil when it comes to renewables. "
Huhne stated that renewable energy and nuclear power can work together to provide our future energy needs and promised there would be no subsidy to nuclear, which has made it artificially cheap in the past.
Huhne also spoke of the revised target for cutting carbon emissions: "I am working closely with my French and German counterparts for greater ambition in cutting carbon. By 2020, we want a cut not of 20% but 30% – that’s one cut that shouldn’t be too controversial here."
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