Trade body publishes roadmap setting out its vision for how the UK can accelerate drive to net zero emissions while generating hundreds of thousands of jobs
Half of the UK's electricity generation could be provided by renewables by the end of next year, provided the government introduces the right policy environment, according to a major new report from the Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA).
The trade body made the claim yesterday, as it published a 'green recovery roadmap' that sets out its vision for how the UK can meet its net zero emissoins target while providing thousands of new jobs in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.
The report, titled Strategy for Renewable Energy and Clean Technologies, calculates that UK electricity generation could be powered entirely by renewables by 2032, and that half of all electricity generation could be provided by renewables by the end of 2022.
A separate recent analysis by think tank Ember suggested renewables provided 42 per cent of the power mix last year, outstripping fossil fuels for the first time. Renewables and nuclear combined have consistently delivered more than half the UK's power in recent years, but renewables advocates maintain that the sector could top 50 per cent in short order if the government moves to beef up energy efficiency programmes and remove a number of barriers to renewables deployment, such as VAT on domestic clean technologies and on-going planning delays.
REA, which brings together more than 500 companies working to decarbonise heat, power, and transport, and deliver a more circular economy, estimates that nearly 200,000 jobs could be created in the renewable energy and clean technology sector within the next 15 years under an effective policy environment. Some 157,000 of these jobs can be created in clean energy and technology in industry in England with a further 16,000 in Scotland, it said. The remaining 16,000 would be split equally between Northern Ireland and Wales, it estimated.
REA chief executive Dr Nina Skorupska emphasised that the government needed to introduce the right policy environment to meet the targets set out in the report and harness the full green jobs potential offered by the sector.
"It is now abundantly clear that the argument of an 'either or' choice between tackling climate change and providing an economic boost is over," she said. "Support for the renewable energy and clean technology sector will not only help the government reach its net zero ambitions, but it could deliver hundreds of thousands of new jobs and return billions of pounds worth of investment too."
The report also calculates that the majority of energy demand for the heat and transport sectors could be met from renewable and clean technologies by 2035 and that all bio-waste could be either separated and recycled at source or collected separately by 2023.
Skorupska emphasised that delivering a net zero emission economy would require industrial transformation on a scale not seen since the industrial revolution of the early 19th century.
"The UK's energy system is in the midst of the largest transformation for generations, moving towards the legally-binding 2050 net zero target for greenhouse gas emissions reductions," she said. "The change required over the next three decades is on a par to that experienced during the industrial revolution; affecting people's homes, businesses and the very fabric of the nation."