Publications on Environment & Energy
Aug
2010
Tuesday 17th August, 2010
Green Bills: An analysis of the projected levy in energy bills
Green Bills reveals how the total levy in energy – effectively tax to pay for climate and renewable energy policies – is set to soar by 2020. Figures reveal that by 2020, the cost of policies like the Renewables Obligation and Feed-in Tariffs – which pay householders to produce power uneconomically through technologies like solar – will hit over £16 billion a year.
That is a tripling in less than a decade, and equivalent to 4p on the current basic rate of income tax, or 2 per cent of total forecast tax revenues in 2020.
Press Coverage • Telegraph • Mail • Conservative Home • Utility Week
Jul
2010
Tuesday 27th July, 2010
Greener, Cheaper
By Robert McIlveen and Dieter Helm
Edited by Simon Less
Taking carbon out of the economy will be difficult and expensive. Public support and economic viability are going to be crucial for decades if long-term success in the battle against climate change is to be achieved – and cost-effectiveness is critical to both.
The report suggests that a carbon tax would be a more cost-effective way of ensuring that Britain goes greener more quickly and more efficiently with a simpler, better targeted policy which is credible over the long term.
Press coverage • Economist • Financial Times • Telegraph • Telegraph II • Daily Mail • Guardian blog • The World Tonight • Energy Efficiency News • You and Yours • ENDS • Inside Housing • Power-gen Worldwide • Conservative Home
If you would like a hard copy of this report priced at £10 + £3p&p then please email: janet.batterbee@policyexchange.org.uk
Mar
2010
Tuesday 23rd March, 2010
Cold Comfort - Fuel Poverty and the Winter Fuel Payment
By Andrew Brinkley and Simon Less
The Government is failing on its Fuel Poverty target. The number of households spending more than 10% of income on energy has risen steadily since the launch of the Fuel Poverty strategy. The Government’s own figures show that by 2007, the numbers of people in fuel poverty in the UK had risen to 4,000,000 from 2,500,000 in 2001. Even more worrying, they suggest that there may have been 6,500,000 by 2009 - and this despite spending of £20 billion.
This report calls for a more honest approach from Government. We argue that if the Government wishes to use the WFP funding to boost the incomes of older people, it should do so transparently through the pensions or benefits system. If, on the other hand, it is serious about helping people who struggle to heat their homes, the government should focus on improving domestic energy efficiency and effective approaches to tackling poverty.
If you would like a hard copy of this report priced at £4 + £1p&p then please email: janet.batterbee@policyexchange.org.uk
Feb
2010
Monday 1st February, 2010
Running on Empty
Written by Andrew Brinkley and Robert McIlveen
We face an uncertain energy future, but one thing is for sure: we will be more dependent on gas in the next decade, and more of that gas will be imported. A low-carbon economy, once created, promises to reduce our dependence upon fossil fuel exporting countries as well as cutting our carbon emissions. However, between here and that promised land lies a decade of difficult choices. This is a reality which is still not being properly addressed by policymakers. We must come to terms with the implications of gas dependence, and the price we might have to pay to deal with it.
With old coal-fired and nuclear plants closing down in the latter half of the next decade before sufficient new nuclear, renewable or coal plants with carbon capture and storage can be built, we will be relying on gas to keep the lights on. This “energy crunch” in generation capacity will stretch our resilience – and our faith in liberalised markets – to the limit. It also raises serious questions about the price we will have to pay for our security – and whether we will have to sacrifice climate goals for energy security.
If you would like a hard copy of this report priced at £4 + £1p&p then please email: janet.batterbee@policyexchange.org.uk
Jan
2010
Wednesday 27th January, 2010
Negotiating the Next Climate Change Treaty
Written by Scott Barrett
Edited by Robert McIlveen
Copenhagen is the new Kyoto, and it may turn out to be little better than its predecessor.While there are demands for a deal all around, the design and content of that deal has received less attention than it deserves. The approach taken at Kyoto and Copenhagen, of legally binding aggregate targets, is not working. It lacks credible enforcement mechanisms.
There is a better way. The Montreal Protocol, which dealt with ozone-depleting substances, is a model of success. Not only has it phased out substances such as CFCs which damage the ozone layer, it has done more to mitigate climate change than Kyoto even aspired to achieve. Treaty negotiation is complex and difficult. Yet if we are not to end up with a lowest-common-denominator treaty which achieves nothing, several key things need to be in place.
This report not only sets out an alternative approach; it also develops the reasoning behind it.While the result will be imperfect and is not, by design, as cost-effective as a Kyoto-style approach would have been if it had worked, the approach outlined has a much greater chance of actually delivering significant cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, as the case of HFCs demonstrates, it already has.
If you would like a hard copy of this report priced at £10 + £3p&p then please email: janet.batterbee@policyexchange.org.uk
Wednesday 6th January, 2010
At a Rate of Knots: Improving public transport on the River Thames
By Paul Buchanan, Andrew Gilligan, Zac Goldsmith, Cynthia Grant, Steve Norris and Neil O’Brien
Illustrations by Black Hat
Edited by Robert McIlveen & Ben Caldecott
The Thames is London’s historic highway yet it is invisible on the transport canvas of London. Transport for London has even taken it off the standard Tube map. The river promises an exciting new transport network for Londoners, at a fraction of the normal cost for infrastructure projects, but needs sustained political leadership to make it happen.
This report argues that we can make much more of the river for very little cost, producing a new, integrated and expanded service which will offer a great new option for many of London’s commuters. The river is a core part of London’s identity yet it is cut off from its transport network. This report sets out how to correct this.
If you would like a hard copy of this report priced at £10 + £3p&p then please email: janet.batterbee@policyexchange.org.uk
Sep
2009
Tuesday 1st September, 2009
Delivering a 21st Century Infrastructure for Britain
Written by Dieter Helm, James Wardlaw and Ben Caldecott
Our latest report estimates that in order to renew and replace much of Britain’s tired infrastructure, around £500 billion will need to be spent by 2020 to improve Britain’s competiveness, stimulate economic growth and meet the challenge of climate change.
Given the current size of accumulated Government debt, the report recommends that as much infrastructure investment as possible should be undertaken off Government balance sheet and by the private sector.
If you would like a hard copy of this report priced at £10 + £3p&p then please email: janet.batterbee@policyexchange.org.uk
Jul
2009
Wednesday 22nd July, 2009
Green skies thinking: Promoting the development and commercialisation of sustainable bio-jet fuels
By Ben Caldecott and Sean Tooze
Our report recommends the wide-scale deployment of sustainable bio-jet fuels which would result in emission reductions worth £37.41 billion in the UK between 2020 and 2050, as well as making a significant contribution to meeting the UK’s 2050 emission reduction target. We also set out how the UK can become a world leader in this important suite of technologies.
Green Skies Thinking recommends the setting of achievable and enforceable targets for replacing standard kerosene jet fuel with bio-jet fuel from 2020, through the implementation of an EU-wide Sustainable Bio-jet Fuel Blending Mandate. This would result in reductions of greenhouse gas emissions from the UK and EU aviation sectors of 15% in 2020 and 60% in 2050 relative to current predictions.
Please download the research note for more of our recommendations.
If you would like a hard copy of this research note for £4 + £1p&p then please email: janet.batterbee@policyexchange.org.uk
Monday 20th July, 2009
A Wasted Opportunity: Getting the most out of Britain's Bins
Written by Professor Chris Coggins and Robert McIlveen
Edited by Ben Caldecott
Our latest report recommends the radical overhaul of the UK's waste system to reduce the cost on households, improve recycling rates, increase local authority efficiency and expand the proportion of the UK's energy needs met through waste.
A Wasted Opportunity notes that Britain still sends more than half its waste to landfill sites, and 15.5 million tonnes of household rubbish were buried and left to rot in 2007/8. The UK also fares badly in comparision with its European counterparts.
If you would like a hard copy of this report priced at £10 + £3p&p then please email: janet.batterbee@policyexchange.org.uk
May
2009
Thursday 14th May, 2009
Knowledge is power: securing transparency in Britain's liberalised energy market
By Ben Caldecott & Robert McIlveen
To help alleviate the crisis of confidence in Britain’s liberalised energy market, Knowledge is power sets out a number of options to improve transparency for consumers and the market. As we enter an age of increasingly expensive energy, better consumer information is essential if we are to secure public support to meet the challenges of security of supply and decarbonisation. Whilst better market transparency for energy companies, especially new entrants, will help maintain competition and allow the lowest prices possible to be delivered to consumers.
If you would like a hard copy of this research note for £4 + £1p&p then please email: janet.batterbee@policyexchange.org.uk
