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Amazing really, you wait for an adult conversation with a Government minister and are surprised when you actually get one. Its clear that Ed Miliband means business at the new DECC, that's the Department of Energy and Climate Change which was established in the latest reshuffle which also delivered us Margaret Beckett as Housing Minister of course.


To get the ball rolling, the government has actually increased its commitment to cut CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050 rather than the previous figure of 60% that was being pushed about. Shipping and aviation are proving more tricky to measure and manage and will be examined in 5-yearly Carbon audits.


Mr Miliband told MPs the government accepted all the recommendations of the report from Lord Turner's Committee on Climate Change. Although the full report from the Committee on Climate Change won't be published until 1 December, you can see the published recommendations.


In order to meet this 80% reduction- 5 specific areas of recommendation are made- energy assessors will be very interested in the first one, and perhaps an interest in the fourth- I certainly am!

1. Energy efficiency improvement in buildings and industry (e.g. loft and cavity wall insulation, use of more efficient appliances, turning appliances off and using less air conditioning), which will be particularly important for reducing emissions in the period to 2020.

2. Decarbonisation of the power sector, starting now and continuing through the 2020s, based on replacing existing conventional fossil fuel fired plant with renewable technologies (e.g. wind, tidal), nuclear new build and CCS.

3. Transport sector decarbonisation, first through improving fuel efficiency of conventional engines and increased use of sustainable first generation biofuels, with progressive introduction of new technologies such as electric cars, plug in hybrids and hydrogen vehicles, and second generation biofuels.

4. Heat sector decarbonisation through increased use of biomass in boilers and CHP, air exchange and ground source heat pumps, and modern electric storage heating.

5. Decarbonisation of industry through the introduction of new technologies such as CCS in cement, iron and steel.

So simple then! Well yes actually, if politicians are put under pressure from the public and the lobby groups then the above is entirely possible. It is encouraging that even with financial meltdown now well underway, the EU have not allowed some countries to waive the short-term commitment to carbon reduction. Of course there are headaches ahead like dealing with China and the USA but every flood starts with a trickle.

Solar heating in 7.5 million UK homes.

The Department for Energy & Climate Change now have a Director of Heat, Hergen Haye, who announced at this weeks Solar Trade Association’s seminar that the Government would like to see seven and half million homes with solar heating in place within the next 12 years. With a current stock of just 100,000 houses with installed systems that's a new installation rate of around 12,000 systems every single week, its a third of all UK houses fitted with solar heating. As we know new build starts have dropped dramatically in this credit crunch but even at full speed, 200,000 new dwelling per year may just be possible, and if the Code for Sustainable Homes can be beefed up and mandatory introduction dates brought forward in each region, then perhaps a contribution to the overall 7 million target can be made.

A positive comment made by Mr Haye was that 160,000 new jobs will be created with a 100billion or more investment opportunities- clearly someone is going to make money saving the Earth. Its certainly an exciting target for all those in the solar energy business!

This Autumn the Government will publish a consultation on the wider heat policy which will lead to a definitive Heat Strategy in 2009. One note of caution- making different elements of heat policy compatible with other Government objectives - such as security of supply, competitiveness, fuel poverty - will present a significant challenge.

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