Wednesday, September 06, 2006

An Inconvenient Truth

Climate change is on everyone’s lips these days, but what practical steps do we all need to take in our own homes and what needs to happen with housing nationally, to actually deliver significant reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions over the next few decades, in order to avert major problems all over the globe?

The ‘40% House’ project, led by the Environmental Change Institute, took a look at these issues over a two and a half year project and has come up with a strategy that would cut CO2 emissions by 60%, reduce our reliance on imported energy and at the same time ensure that, if anything, our quality of life at home will be improved.


Even though individual homes are becoming more efficient, the population is rising and we are all living in smaller households, and therefore there are more houses needed for the same number of people. In addition, our homes are on average warmer and we are using much more energy in lighting and appliances. So even though we are becoming more efficient in many ways, it is not going to be enough unless we make some big changes: in the residential sector we need to cut emissions by about eight times the current rate in order to reach by 2050 our commitment to the 60% cut in CO2 emissions from 1997 levels.

The 40% strategy tackles this in two ways, by cutting down the energy we need and introducing new technologies so that we can use that energy better.

In order to achieve this, the standards for new homes will need to be rigorously enforced; for existing housing, some are just too costly to upgrade to provide affordable warmth, and will need to be pulled down to make room for more efficient developments. For the remainder, there could be a system of rebates on stamp duty to encourage owner-occupiers, while closer regulation of the rented sector should provide the improvements needed.

If we could just make our houses that much more efficient, mainly through better insulation, by 2020 new homes will have nearly no need for space heating, and older houses will on average be as efficient as the best we have today.

Space heating and hot water will come from boilers that will generate electricity as well as heat - “combined heat and power” (CHP). With solar panels on the roof providing additional hot water and the lighting and appliances being around 44% more efficient, by 2045 the residential sector will be selling more electricity to the grid than it will be buying!

The 40 percent house scenario of energy efficiency and renewables is a way for us to meet the challenge of climate change head on in the UK, without the need to rely on untested solutions like carbon capture or the unsustainability of nuclear power.

The inconvenient truth is that whatever solution we choose, it will not succeed unless we communicate to those that are in denial about climate change that we can not go on as we are.

Putting a low energy light bulb outside Number 10 is a start, but those we put in power have a responsibility to demonstrate that they take energy efficiency seriously right now, personally and in their departments; for how else will those who do not understand the urgency be convinced to make changes in their own lives?

And if we as a nation do not stand up and set a responsible example, what message are we giving to other countries about our commitment to the future of life on this planet?

40% House » The 25 Million Home Makeover

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