“Greenest ever’ industry could be history
20 May 2011
The Coalition has a bit of catching up to do to deliver on its promise of being the “greenest ever government” – a title likely held by rulers of the land before the Dark Ages, or in more recent times, the Heath government (1970-74) – albeit briefly following its introduction of the three-day week.
With the Carbon Budget obliging the UK to cut emissions by more than almost any other country in the world, prime minister David Cameron and his energy secretary Chris Huhne , however, could soon earn similar billing in history.
Legally binding targets for a 50% cut in greenhouse gas emissions (c/f 1990) by 2025 and an 80% reduction by 2050, will put the UK ’at the forefront of the global low carbon industry’, they claim.
Meeting these targets will require huge investment in wind, solar and wave power, which are the most costly – and, in the case of wind, unsightly – of renewable energy options. It will also mean the UK removing fossil fuels from its energy mix more quickly than any other industrialised economy.
The big problem with the Carbon Budget is that it fails to properly address the impact of these measures on energy costs and, most worryingly, the competitiveness of UK industry against counterparts in not-quite-so-low-carbon countries, such as India and China.
Concern is clearly greatest among energy-intensive industries, such as chemicals, steel and paper. The Chemical Industries Association (CIA), for instance, estimates that the Carbon Budget could raise energy-related costs – already the highest in Europe – from 10% to over 100% of profits for many companies.
Echoing the views of many across the process industries, CIA chief executive Steve Elliott believes that without effective transitional support measures, many industrial businesses will be wiped out.
“If the measures are half-hearted, manufacturing jobs and companies, who are delivering low carbon solutions, will be ripped out of the industrial heartlands of the UK with very little prospect of new businesses being attracted to invest,” Elliott warned.
Seems not everyone is so keen on ending up in the history books.
