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Highlights
- A recently published report has stated that the UK will continue facing high energy costs even after the current energy crisis comes to an end.
- Households are expected to face an additional upgradation cost of about £1,500 in the next 10 years.
- The next phase of transition will require homes to be energy efficient to meet UK’s net-zero goals
Energy costs are expected to remain high even after the current gas and fuel crisis comes to an end as the next phase of UK’s transition towards decarbonisation is expected to weigh on households for the next decade, according to a report called the ‘Carbon Crunch’.
The report was published jointly by the Resolution Foundation and the London School of Economics.
The report states that the cost of upgrading homes in order to meet the UK’s ambitious net-zero goals will cost British households about £ 42.5 billion in the next 10 years, which averages to about £1,500 per household.
The above amount does not factor in the costs associated with the upgradation of electric vehicles, which is expected to add to a household’s costs.
The report comes ahead of the COP26 UN climate talks, which is set to be held in November in Scotland. The UK will be hosting the key climate summit.
UK’s ongoing energy fuel crisis
The UK is currently grappling with soaring gas prices due to a host of factors, including global demand recovery, low reserves, low supplies from Russia and low wind output ahead of a cold winter.
Gas prices have risen by over three times since the beginning of the year.
The country is also dealing with a deepening fuel crisis caused by a shortage of lorry drivers due to an ongoing supply chain challenge facing several other industries. Petrol prices rose to an 8-year high, touching 134.6 pence per litre last month in August. The highest since September 2013,
However, the government has stated that the lorry driver crunch is a temporary challenge and will be resolved soon.
UK’s next phase of net-zero transition
The UK has set the ambitious target of becoming net zero by 2050. To meet this target, the next phase of decarbonising will require households to reduce their emissions.
This is expected to hit the low-and middle-income households the hardest as such households usually have low energy efficiency in their homes. UK’s household emissions will have to drop by close to 80 per cent over the next 15 years for the country to meet its net-zero goals by 2050
Conclusion
The 2020s are set to be a critical decade for the UK and the world as it moves into the next phase of decarbonisation.
The UK aims to be a leader in tackling climate change; thus, as the country tackles how to address household emissions and improving energy efficiency it will need to ensure that low-income households do not bear a larger burden of the transition cost while ensuring that benefits do not flow more disproportionately more towards higher-income households.
