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Currently included in this section:
Scottish Energy Policy
UK Energy Policy
EU Energy Policy
Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009
The Climate Change (Scotland) Act received Royal Assent on 4 August 2009, setting a target of reducing emissions by 80% by 2050 and an interim target for a 42% cut in emissions by 2020.
Other elements of the Act with a direct impact on energy efficiency include:
- Ministers must publish an Energy Efficiency Action Plan within 12 months of the Act being passed, to include annual targets and be reviewed every 3 years
- Ministers must publish a Renewable Heat Action Plan within 12 months of the passage of the Act, to include targets and be reviewed every 2 years
- Ministers must make annual reports on progress on their energy efficiency and renewable heat action plans
- Ministers have taken powers to compel owners of domestic buildings to undertake some or all of the recommendations on the building's energy performance certificate
- Every local authority in Scotland must establish a scheme to give discounts on council tax bills for householders installing energy efficiency measures
- Gives local authorities powers to require insulation improvements in tenements
- Ministers must bring forward a new permitted development order for domestic and non-domestic buildings within 6 months of the Act being passed, to exempt certain microgeneration equipment from the requirement for planning permission
Annual targets will be set in 2010, for the period 2010 - 2022, based on advice to Scottish Ministers from the UK Committee on Climate Change (however, the Act contains provisions which will allow the Scottish Ministers to establish a Scottish Committee on Climate Change or to designate an existing body to exercise advisory functions should it be decided that this is appropriate in the future). The Climate Change Delivery Plan, published by the Scottish Government in June 2009, sets out high level measures to meet the statutory target for 2020, and the work to be done over the next decade to prepare for the more radical changes needed if the target for 2050 is to be achieved.
The full text of the Act is available on the Office of Public Sector Information website, along with explanatory notes which help place the effect of the Act in context.
On 30 June 2009 The Scottish Parliament's Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee published a report setting out recommendations for the Scottish Government to meet the emissions targets set out in the then Climate Change (Scotland) Bill. Key recommendations in the report Determining and Delivery on Scotland's Energy Future include:
- the Scottish Government should consider investing between £100 million and £170 million annually over the next ten years to reduce energy demand and fuel poverty across Scotland
- a greater emphasis to be placed on decentralising Scotland’s electricity system, putting in place policies to increase individual, community and municipal-scale production, distribution and use of electricity and heat through schemes such as district heating
- the Scottish Government should speed up procedures to give consent to new, large-scale developments within Scotland’s national electricity infrastructure, including the proposed Beauly-Denny line, so that Scotland can unlock its renewable energy potential and meet challenging climate-change targets
- the energy regulator Ofgem should tackle fuel poverty issues by ensuring energy tariffs are transparent and that problems with energy pre-payment meters are addressed
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The Heat and Energy Saving Strategy (HESS)
The Heat and Energy Saving Strategy Consultation, published jointly by The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) in February 2009, set out the UK Government’s long term vision for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide from buildings. The goal is for carbon dioxide emissions from buildings to be approaching zero by 2050. In the domestic sector, the strategy aims to achieve a 30% reduction in domestic emissions by 2020 and a greater than 80% reduction in domestic emissions by 2050 (from 2006 levels).
The proposals contained in the consultation aim to ensure that:
- All lofts and cavity walls will be filled where possible by 2015.
- All homes should receive a ‘whole-house’ package by 2030 including all cost effective energy saving measures plus renewable heat and electricity measures as appropriate.
Other key proposals include provisions for:
- Consideration of a new delivery model for the implementation of national energy efficiency targets, moving to a more co-ordinated house-by- house and street-by-street approach.
- The widespread availability of home energy advice by accredited advisers.
- The development of new financial mechanisms to help people make improvements to their buildings (i.e. Pay As You Save).
- Changes to the Building Regulations to ensure that good energy efficiency measures are incorporated during refurbishments.
- An enhanced focus on district heating schemes.
While all of the strategy is relevant to England, responsibility for certain aspects of the strategy is devolved in Scotland. For example, related issues such as planning and Building Regulations, some elements of energy efficiency and aspects of renewable energy policy are devolved to the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Government will therefore be considering responses to this consultation in developing its own policies (a full explanation of the territorial context is provided in Chapter 9 of the consultation document.)
The consultation closed on 8 May 2009. You can view the analysis and responses to the HESS consultation at http://hes.decc.gov.uk/view_results. DECC intends to respond to issues raised in the consultation in the next few months.
HESS will take over from the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) and Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP) in 2013.
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White Paper – UK Low Carbon Transition Plan
Published in July 2009, the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan – National strategy for climate and energy, sets out an overarching plan for how the UK will meet the 34% cut in carbon emissions on 1990 levels, as set out in the Budget, by 2020.
The White Paper is a UK-wide plan, and many elements of the Paper will apply to Scotland. However, the Devolved Administrations (DAs) are responsible for some areas of energy and climate change policy, and are therefore also contributing their own separate targets and action on climate change. For example the Scottish Parliament recently passed The Climate Change (Scotland) Bill setting a target of achieving an 80% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050 and an interim target of a 42% reduction by 2020, and committing the Scottish Government to publishing and reporting on an Energy Efficiency Action Plan covering all sectors.
Chapter 4 of the White Paper, entitled Transforming our homes and communities, covers pre-existing, recently announced and new measures to help households make energy savings and tackle fuel poverty. Key points which will apply in Scotland include:
- A 20% increase in the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) obligation on energy suppliers to help households reduce emissions and save energy between April 2008 and March 2011.
- Installing smart meters in every home by the end of 2020.
- Encouraging the provision of smart displays now for existing meters.
- Developing more proactive services from the Energy Saving Trust to provide households with information and advice.
- Piloting a move from upfront payment to “pay as you save” models of long term financing for energy saving.
- Introduction of ‘clean energy cash-back’ schemes so people will be paid if they use low carbon sources to generate heat or electricity.
- Introduction of the Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP), delivering a community-based approach and targeting homes in low-income areas.
- Creation of mandated social price support compared to the current voluntary system, with increased resources focused particularly on older pensioners on the lowest incomes.
- Working to ensure the fuel poor can benefit from new schemes, such as the Renewable Heat Incentive, to help reduce energy bills.
In the Analytical Annex to the White Paper, Chapter 5 examines the estimated impact of the package of polices and proposals on energy prices and bills. In total the package is expected to increase domestic energy bills by 9% (or £125) compared to the baseline in 2020.The breakdown of bills into gas and electricity components shows the biggest percentage increase will come from the rise in domestic gas bills. The additional impact in 2020 of the policies in the White Paper relative to today is an average of £76, or approximately 6% of current energy bills.
- Renewable Energy Strategy
Other related reports were published alongside the White Paper, including a Renewable Energy Strategy setting out how the UK will meet the European Commission’s Renewable Energy Directive and achieve the UK’s target of getting 15% of all energy (electricity, heat and transport) from renewable sources by 2020. The Renewable Energy Strategy is an integral part of the overall UK Low Carbon Transition Plan.
The Renewable Energy Strategy will:
- Put in place mechanisms to provide financial support for renewable electricity and heat worth £30 billion between now and 2020 by, for example, expanding the Renewables Obligation and introducing ‘clean energy cash-back’ incentives.
- Drive delivery and clear away barriers – the Office for Renewable Energy Deployment (ORED), part of the Department of Energy and Climate Change, has been established to drive delivery of targets through stronger supply chains and the planning system.
- Increase investment in emerging technologies and pursue new sources of supply.
- Introduce new mechanisms to support investment by householders and communities in small-scale renewable heat and electricity generation.
The UK Government has worked closely with the Devolved Administrations (DAs) in developing the Renewable Energy Strategy and, with each country setting policies within their own areas of responsibility, will continue to work closely with them in implementing it and developing a UK national action plan.
Each of the DAs is setting out its own plan to increase renewable energy use and will be working together with the UK Government to ensure the plans are aligned. Each of the DAs has also agreed to undertake an evidence-gathering exercise to assess renewable electricity and heat potential and barriers, and propose a level of ambition for renewables deployment based on that assessment for renewable energy delivery by 2020.
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Energy Bill
The new Energy Bill, introduced in the House of Commons in November 2009, will create new powers to provide support for energy consumers, giving a greater amount of help to the poorest and most vulnerable, as well as introducing a new financial incentive for carbon capture and storage.
The Bill implements some of the key measures outlined in the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan that require primary legislation.
The Energy Bill includes provisions on:
- Introducing mandatory social price support – tackling fuel poverty by lowering the energy bills of more of the most vulnerable consumers and giving greater guidance on the types of households eligible for support. These measures will be funded by requiring energy companies to make available at least £300 million per annum by 2013-14 on social support.
- Fairness of energy markets - making it clear that Ofgem, in relation to their principal objective of protecting the interests of existing and future consumers, must:
- include the reduction of carbon emissions and the delivery of secure energy supplies in their assessment of the interests of consumers; and
- step in proactively to protect the consumer interest as well as considering longer term actions to promote competition.
Giving Ofgem additional powers, through the insertion of a Market Power Licence Condition in the licences of electricity generation companies, to prevent companies exploiting market power that may arise as a result of constrained capacity in the electricity transmission system.
Extending the time limit within which Ofgem can impose financial penalties for breaches of licence conditions from 12 months to 5 years.
Enabling the Secretary of State to address certain types of cross-subsidies between gas and electricity supply businesses should they impact unfairly on consumers.
- Carbon capture and storage (CCS) – introducing a new CCS Incentive to support the construction of four commercial-scale CCS demonstration projects in the UK, and the retrofit of additional CCS capacity to these projects should it be required at a future point.
The Energy Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on 19 November 2009 and received its Second Reading on 7 December 2009; it was committed to a Public Bill Committee on 5, 7, 12, 14, 19 and 21 January 2010.
Factsheets on the Energy Bill provisions are available here: http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/legislation/energybill/energybill.aspx
View the DECC news release here: http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/pn134/pn134.aspx
View the Energy Bill and associated explanatory notes on the UK Parliament website here: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2009-10/energy.html
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Home Energy Conservation Act 1995
The Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 (HECA) set all UK local authorities the responsibility of achieving substantial improvements in the energy efficiency of their housing stock, and came into force in Scotland on 1 December 1996.
Guidance on HECA was issued separately for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. An improvement of 30% over 10-15 years was initially set; however many local authorities have negotiated a lower percentage, with some as low as 9% (although it should be noted that each authority was starting from a different baseline).
Communities Scotland monitored the progress on targets set for HECA on behalf of Scottish Ministers. Local authorities were required to produce progress reports every two years. These reports, now published, provide information on both the incremental progress towards meeting the agreed HECA targets achieved between April 2001 and March 2003, and the cumulative progress achieved since 1997.
Fourth HECA Progress Report
Scottish local authorities submitted their Fourth HECA Progress Reports in 2006 to Communities Scotland. These reports provided information on their domestic energy efficiency related activities over the period covering April 2003 to March 2005, and also covered the incremental and cumulative progress made under HECA since 1997.
Since their last progress reports, most local authorities have published their fuel poverty strategies, and social housing landlords (i.e. local authorities and housing associations) have reported on how they intend to meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard. Within the context of HECA, both of these activities have increased focus significantly on personal circumstances of householders compared to previous reports – over three-quarters of the authorities indicated they were targeting their advice and promotional activities at vulnerable households.
The reports also show that local authorities are continuing to develop partnerships to deliver energy efficiency measures, with almost all having now established formal arrangements with other local authorities, community sector agencies and utilities. The greatest increase in activity has been in the delivery of direct energy advice. During the period covered by the reports, 179,562 households were provided with energy advice directly, almost double the number reported in the first progress report in 2001.
Some of the key figures reported for the 2003 – 2005 period are as follows:
- 92,873 dwellings received new heating systems, amounting to 50% more than reported in any of the previous reports;
- 19,044 dwellings received packages of insulation measures, less than reported in any of the previous reports;
- 1,337 households benefited from work under the Warm Deal programme, considerably fewer than reported in previous progress reports;
- 25,208 dwellings were fitted with draughtproofing, representing a decline on the figures reported in previous HECA progress reports;
- 36,950 dwellings received loft insulation, representing a small increase on the figures reported in the third progress reports. Much of this activity is topping up the levels of loft insulation in dwellings with less than adequate thicknesses;
- 13,870 dwellings had cavity wall insulation installed, about the same as the last reporting period, but considerably less than the numbers reported in the first two progress reports;
- 179,562 households were provided with energy advice directly, almost twice as many as reported in the previous progress reports, and a sevenfold increase on the first progress reports;
- 64,911 homes received energy efficiency visits, more than in any of other progress reports and three times as many as reported in the first progress reports; and
- 90,372 home energy survey reports were issued, more than reported in any of the previous reports.
Three local authorities have already met their agreed HECA target, and another five local authorities have achieved over 80% of their target to date.
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Energy Act 2008
The Energy Act was given Royal Assent on 26 November 2008.
The Act implements the legislative aspects of the 2007 Energy White Paper: Meeting the Energy Challenge.
It updates the legislative framework by putting in place new legislation to:
- Reflect the availability of new technologies (such as Carbon Capture and Storage and emerging renewable technologies).
- Correspond with the changing requirements for security of supply infrastructure (such as offshore gas storage).
- Ensure adequate protections for the environment and the tax payer as the energy market changes.
For more information visit: http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/legislation/energy_act_08/energy_act_08.aspx
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EU Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings (EPBD)
The EPBD came into force in January 2003, creating, for the first time, a common framework to promote the improvement of the energy performance of buildings across the EU. The directive provides a significant opportunity to substantially reduce energy use in buildings, which accounts for nearly 50% of all UK carbon emissions.
Key provisions of the directive are:
- minimum requirements for the energy performance of all new buildings
- minimum requirements for the energy performance of large existing buildings subject to major renovation
- energy certification of all buildings (with frequently visited buildings providing public services being required to prominently display the energy certificate)
- regular mandatory inspection of boilers and air conditioning systems in buildings.
EPBD implementation in Scotland
Member states were required to implement the directive into their national law by 4 January 2006, and it is up to each individual member state to set the actual performance requirements in the national building regulations.
On 1 May 2005 a new building standards system came into force in Scotland. This was the outcome of a six-year review which resulted in the legislation which makes implementation of the Directive possible: the Building (Scotland) Act 2003. Responsibility for implementing the Directive on behalf of Scottish Ministers was given to the Scottish Building Standards Agency (SBSA).
The Building (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2006, laid before the Scottish Parliament in November 2006, and the guidance documentation came into force on 1 May 2007. These regulations applied in the first instance to new homes built after this date, to private homes from December 2008, and to rental and public buildings from January 2009.
There is now a direct link on the SBSA website to information about the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. Under ‘European Directives’, guidance and advice will be provided plus information on the legislation; the public consultation on articles 7, 8, and 9 (Energy performance certificates, boilers and air-conditioning systems); the format of energy performance certificates (EPCs) and protocols with organisations able to produce certificates. Two EPC models have been approved for use in Scotland, one for domestic dwellings, the second for all other building types.
As of 1 December 2008, properties for sale have to be marketed with information, branded as the Home Report. This is a pack of three documents: a Single Survey, an Energy Report (which includes the EPC) and a Property Questionnaire. The Home Report has to be made available on request to prospective buyers. The Single Survey consists of: an assessment by a surveyor of the condition of the home, a valuation and an accessibility audit for people with particular needs. The Energy Report contains an assessment by a surveyor of the energy efficiency of the home and its environmental impact; it will also recommend ways to improve the property’s energy efficiency.
EPBD Re-cast Consultation
On 31 July the UK Government launched a consultation on a proposed 'recast' of the EPBD. The aim is to clarify and simplify certain aspects of the directive, extend the scope, strengthen certain provisions, and give the public sector a leading role in promoting energy efficiency.
Visit the following page of the Communities and Local Government website for details on the Recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive Consultation. The deadline for responses is 2 October 2009.
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EC Directive on Energy End Use Efficiency and Energy Services
The Energy End Use Efficiency and Energy Services Directive came into force on 17 May 2006, with the aim of enhancing the cost effective improvement of energy end use efficiency in Member States. Member States have until 17 May 2008 to fully implement the Directive.
The Directive covers all forms of energy and applies to providers of energy efficiency measures, energy distributors, distribution system operators and retail energy sales companies; and all energy users except those involved with the EU carbon emissions trading scheme.
The Directive has six key elements:
- The preparation of national energy efficiency action plans every 3 years.
- National indicative energy savings target of 9% by 2017.
- Public sector to fulfil an exemplary role in meeting the target .
- Member States required to place obligations on energy suppliers and distributors to promote energy efficiency.
- Creating conditions to develop and promote a market for energy services (ESCOs).
- Requirements on metering and billing to allow consumers to make better informed decisions about their energy use.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has the lead responsibility within Government for implementing the Directive. A Project Board comprising DECC, the Devolved Administrations and Ofgem has been set up to steer implementation. This is being taken forward through five workstreams which will be consulting separately on their areas of the Directive.
This consultation process started with that for Energy Billing and Metering – Changing Customer Behaviour published by the DTI on 14 November 2006. To view EAS’s response to this consultation, click here.
Members states were required to submit energy efficiency action plans to the European Commission in June 2007. The UK Energy Efficiency Action Plan has now been submitted. This sets out the package of policies and measures currently in place to deliver improvements in energy efficiency in the UK to meet climate and energy policy objectives, and to meet the 9% energy saving target by 2016 under the European Union’s Energy End-Use Efficiency and Energy Services Directive.
The UK Government expects to exceed the 9% target, delivering 272.7 TWh in savings by the end of 2016, equivalent to a saving of 18% over the target period.
Key elements of the Action Plan for the Household Sector include:
- Continuing to raise energy performance standards in new buildings;
- Tackling the energy efficiency of the homes of the fuel poor and social housing through fuel poverty schemes;
- Strengthening EEC in the third phase of the scheme and CERT from 2008-11;
- Improving the energy efficiency of products in the home;
- Providing information on the energy efficiency of homes through Energy Performance Certificates;
- Improving metering and billing, and get smart meters or visual display units into the domestic sector within the next decade.
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Page last updated: 14 January 2010 |
