News this week came out that the EU is well on course to meet its energy efficiency target. In part due to economic slowdown and in part due to policies that have driven greater energy efficiency, the use of energy in the EU was below what was expected in 2014 by as much as the annual energy use of Finland. Of course, as others have pointed out, it is important to make sure that this momentum is capitalised on so as if economies do pick up again energy use doesn't return to previous levels. This is called 'decoupling' energy use and economic growth.
This success can serve as an important example to the UK, which might have seen a fall in energy demand but has been cutting key policies and subsidies for measures to drive energy efficiency.
In the UK, some have expressed concern at backward steps on energy efficiency, including the independent Committee on Climate Change. They are worried that cuts to energy efficiency schemes have reduced effort in this area and are putting progress at risk. This is happening at a time when the energy efficiency of our built environment could be being treated as a national infrastructure priority.
Energy efficiency is a no regrets solution as it reduces overall demand and the need for capital investment in costly new energy infrastructure. It's a great and environmentally friendly alternative to measures that some are calling for such as converting more coal power stations to biomass. As I've blogged about previously this can have significant impacts on the environment and the climate too. If we can avoid the need for the energy in the first place then all the better.
We hope that governments will put in place new measures to promote energy efficiency and demand reduction across the UK, for example the policy solutions recommended by Bright Blue in their recently published report ‘Better Homes: Incentivising home energy improvements. While these kinds of solutions aren't big and sexy they provide significant benefits without posing a risk to nature. As we identified in our recent Energy Vision report, energy efficiency is a key part of any strategy to drastically cut UK emissions by 2050 in harmony with nature. They need to be at the heart of the UK Government's forthcoming Emissions Reduction Plan setting out how it is going to meet its carbon budget targets.
Matt Williams, Assistant Warden, RSPB Snape.