There is a myriad of legislation relating to green energy designed to mitigate climate change, much of which imposes mandatory requirements and obligations on the UK. The legislation has evolved greatly since the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol on 11 December 1997.
The Kyoto Protocol
Under the Protocol 37 industrialised nations agreed to reduce their global greenhouse gas emissions by 2012 compared to 1990 levels. Targets were tailored for individual socio-economic circumstances and were different for each signatory nation (12.5% in the case of the by 2010).
Targets were to be met in various ways, including:
The Protocol is generally seen as an important first step towards a worldwide programme for stabilisation/reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and provided the foundations for future international agreements on climate change.
For more information about the Kyoto Protocol visit the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change website.
The Copenhagen Accord
The Accord is a non-binding document that the delegates at the United Nations Conference of the Parties in in December 2009 agreed to “take note of”. One of the key outcomes of the Accord was that developed countries would commit to country-wide emissions targets by 2020.
For further details about the Copenhagen Accord see the United Nations Climate Change Conference webpages.
Climate Change Act 2008
The Act was a significant piece of legislation that introduced:
a legally binding target to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 80% by the year 2050;
the Climate Change Committee - an independent body advising the UK Government on setting and meeting carbon budgets and on preparing for the impacts of climate change; and
the system for setting carbon budgets.
For more information on the Act visit the DECC website.
The Energy Act 2008
The Act provided the legal framework for:
The Act also contains many provisions focussed the on diversification of the national electricity grid.
For more information on the Act visit the DECC website.
The Planning Act 2008
The Act created:
the Infrastructure Planning Commission - a body designed to streamline the planning system for nationally significant infrastructure projects; and
the Community Infrastructure Levy - a levy that local authorities can charge on new developments in their area to support development by funding infrastructure that the council, local community and neighbourhoods want.
For more information on the Act visit the DECC website.
The Planning and Energy Act 2008
The Act enables local authorities to require a proportion of renewable or low carbon energy to be generated for new developments.
For more information on the Act visit the DECC website.
The Energy Act 2010
The Act introduced provisions designed to encourage a reduction in the carbon intensity of the grid in support of the Low Carbon Transition Plan (a plan published on 15 July 2009 plotting how the will meet the 34 percent cut in emissions on 1990 levels by 2020). The provisions of the Act include:
the introduction of an incentive designed to encourage companies to develop and demonstrate carbon capture and storage (“CCS”) technologies in the at a commercial level;
regular reporting on the decarbonisation of electricity generation; and
mandatory social price support for vulnerable energy customers (to be funded by energy companies).
For more information on the Act visit the DECC website.
The Energy Security and Green Economy Bill
This Bill is expected to be introduced in late summer/early autumn 2011 and will:
provide further details on the Green Deal – a financial mechanism to be launched mid-2012 enabling the provision of fixed improvements to the energy efficiency of households and non-domestic properties, funded by a charge on energy bills that avoids the need for consumers to pay upfront costs;
give private tenants the ability to require landlords make reasonable energy efficiency upgrades to their properties and local councils the power to require landlords to improve the worst performing homes;
provide an Energy Company Obligation – a new obligation (replacing CERT post 2012) on energy suppliers to improve the energy efficiency of the housing stock, particularly focusing on vulnerable residents and difficult to treat homes;
enable the Government to require energy companies to provide information about their cheapest tariffs on consumers’ energy bills;
enable the Government to oversee smart meter rollout up until November 2018 (extended from 2013); and
enable increased access to EPC, DEC and ACR data for organisations promoting the improved energy performance of buildings.
For more information on the Bill visit the DECC website.
The Renewables Obligation Order 2002
The Order introduced the Renewables Obligation Certificate (“ROC”). ROCs are green certificates issued to accredited generators for eligible renewable electricity generated and supplied within the UK. The Order has been subject to various reforms and improvements and is the main support scheme for renewable electricity projects in the UK. On 1st April 2009 reforms were introduced meaning that new generators joining the Order receive different numbers of ROCs, depending on their costs and potential for large-scale deployment. For example, offshore wind and energy crops both currently receive twice as many ROCs/MWh as onshore wind.
For more information about Renewables Obligations visit the DECC website.
