carbon limited

When it comes to carbon from energy and the built environment, misdirected government measures (however good the intention) are now likely to do more harm than good. Eye-catching initiatives, if and when they fail, provide justification to cynics and people whose interests lie in maintaining the status quo. And more importantly the measures waste time and damage the chances of introducing more effective alternatives in future.

We’re seeing this now with the zero carbon targets. As the UKGBC recently found, the targets as they stand will be impossible to meet for up to 80% of new homes. The current zero carbon definition is a great idea very badly expressed.

We can no longer applaud the government for doing something (anything) green simply because it shows they’re taking the issues seriously. Perhaps motivated by a fear of a public whose intelligence they underestimate, ministers will offer what they think people want. Meanwhile the Treasury works in the background to ensure that whatever ministers may promise, there will be no impact on government coffers.

We now have to demand more from government. Not necessarily more radical measures, just better considered ones, even if they’re not immediately eye-catching and even if they may cost a bit more in the short term.

Ministers think people won’t wear any green measures during an economic downturn. But economics, energy, and environment are no longer separable. Without cheap credit and plentiful energy, it won’t be possible to put the environment on hold while we address economic issues. Instead, the government will have to take action aimed at meeting environmental and energy needs while stimulating the economy.

In the energy sector and built environment this means adopting an 80:20 approach and focusing the effort where it really counts. It means supporting microrenewables – via a feed-in-tariff, for example -without shackling our entire carbon strategy to them. It means working across all of the built environment rather than narrowly focusing on new-build. It means acknowledging the huge value and importance of heat and making sure people have affordable access to it. It means decarbonising the grid and telling the MOD to shut the hell up so we can install turbines they already agreed to. And it means recognising that by taking a leading role in developing low carbon technology and expertise, the UK can create jobs, stimulate industry, and begin to rebuild some of its lost credibility.