Labour Plans Energy Revolution to Make Britain Carbon Neutral
Labour Net-Zero Plan Targets Heat, Power and Efficiency in U.K.
(Bloomberg) -- Britain’s opposition Labour Party will embark on an ambitious net-zero strategy that’ll see 90% of the country’s electricity come from renewables by 2030 if it wins the next election.
The party said it would target installations of 8 million heat pumps, weaning the U.K. off natural gas as the main home heating fuel. It’s details on a program for how the party would hit a target for carbon neutrality 20 years earlier than current government legislation.
Under a Labour government, almost all U.K. homes and commercial buildings will be upgraded with insulation and other energy efficiency measures and enough solar panels will be installed to cover 22,000 soccer fields. In a 187-page study published on Thursday, the party also promised to build 7,000 offshore wind turbines and over 2,000 onshore windmills.
“The Labour Party has among the most ambitious climate targets in the world and is the only party turning their targets into detailed, credible plans to tackle the climate and environmental crisis,” said Rebecca Long Bailey, the Labour member of Parliament who speaks on business, energy and industrial strategy.
The report, backed by the Sustainability Research Institute at Leeds University, said that the total capital investment to make the pledges a reality will be 150 billion pounds ($193 billion) between 2020 and 2030 with a net benefit to the U.K economy of 800 billion pounds.
The latest promises come after Labour said it planned to boost the U.K. offshore wind industry by installing 57 gigawatts of new capacity and 3.4 billion pounds toward a electric vehicle charging network. The measures also call for government-owned wind farms as well as some transmission networks being brought under state control.
“With 24 million homes in the U.K. heated by gas, recognizing and supporting the essential role for ultra-low carbon green hydrogen gas keeps Labour in touch with ordinary working people,” said Justin Bowden, national secretary at the GMB trade union.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jeremy Hodges in London at jhodges17@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net, Helen Robertson
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