UK ‘to miss’ 2020 RE target

MPs have warned the UK is on course to fail to achieve its EU 2020 target of meeting 15% of energy needs from renewables.

An Energy and Climate Change Committee report found 8.31% of all energy consumption was met by renewables at the end of 2015.

The UK is three-quarters of the way towards its 30% electricity sub-target with the end-2015 tally standing at 22.31%, with BEIS projections of 34% by 2020.

The committee however said success in electricity would not compensate for underperformance in heat and transport without policy changes.

Figures showed 5.64% of heat demand was met by renewables at the end of last year, compared to the 2020 target of 12%.

The UK’s journey towards its 10% transport target reversed between 2014 and 2015, when the proportion of renewable energy fell from 4.93% to 4.23%.

ECCC chair Angus MacNeil said: “The UK will miss its 2020 renewable energy targets without major policy improvements.

“Failing to meet these would damage the UK’s reputation for climate change leadership and the government must take urgent action on heat and transport to renew its efforts on decarbonisation.”

The report recommends greater cooperation between government departments to meet targets and identifies biomethane as a key technology for the deployment of low-carbon heat and the decarbonisation of heavy goods vehicles.

It also calls for higher Renewable Heat Incentives tariffs for biomethane and biomass. Government should do more to support the deployment of electric vehicles, the ECCC said.

Renewable Energy Association chief executive Nina Skorupska added: “Meeting our 2020 targets is a no-regrets policy. It is therefore critical that renewables and decarbonisation are at the heart of the Government’s future Industrial Strategy.”

Image: Angus MacNeil (Parliament TV)