Major commercial energy consultations days away
This month, we our attention is drawn to two significant consultations, designed to reduce energy consumption in and carbon emissions from commercial buildings in England and Wales. They close on 9 June 2021.
They cover a new performance-based policy framework in large commercial and industrial buildings; as well as more stringent minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES) for non-domestic buildings in the private rented sector.
It is believed that regulation will follow to implement these proposals within the timescales envisaged in the consultations. Landlords of non-residential properties need to think about taking steps now, if they are to achieve the minimum Energy Performance Certificate bands targeted by the government.
The UK’s largest industrial and commercial buildings account for a third of total emissions from all buildings. And so, the UK government believes such buildings pose a significant challenge to meeting the Net Zero carbon GHG emissions target by 2050. Many argue the evidence is that there is little correlation between the EPC for a building – which measures theoretical energy performance – and the building’s actual energy performance.
“A new rating system may well seek to address this and could really shake up the commercial and industrial buildings sector,” comments Kevin Cox, our Managing Director at Energys Group.
“Vast CO2 impacts stem from industrial and commercial buildings. At Energys, we are always interested in any ongoing consultation or legislative change that controls direction of sustainability travel in this space.”
Interested parties and companies can comment on the consultation here.
Shocking energy revelations
A special Guardian report finds the nations that make up the G7 have pumped billions of dollars more into fossil fuels than they have into clean energy since the Covid-19 pandemic, despite their promises of a green recovery.
New analysis reveals that G7 countries committed $189bn to support oil, coal and gas between January 2020 and March 2021. In comparison, the same countries – the UK, US, Canada, Italy, France, Germany and Japan – spent $147bn on clean forms of energy.
Only one in every 10 dollars committed to the Covid-19 response benefited the “cleanest” energies such as renewables and energy efficiency measures, says the Guardian.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, unprecedented amounts of public money were spent by nations; it is estimated that the 50 largest world economies committed at least $14.6tn for fiscal stimulus measures in 2020. It has been commonly stated that well-designed and targeted stimuli should be used as a springboard for launching low-carbon societies.
More report woes
Further concerning analysis by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) claims the UK is committing just 6% of the amount of funding to the green recovery from Covid-19 pledged by the US, and just 13% of that promised by Italy, writes EDIE.
It appears that, more broadly, in the months since the pandemic began, analysts are beginning to get to work on the money spent, the green promises and where the cash is going.
TUC’s paper assesses how much “green” Covid-19 stimulus has been offered by each of the G7 governments, with energy efficiency classified as green.
On a total funding level, the UK comes bottom of the G7 countries, with £12.13bn pledged. The TUC has accounted for the £12bn Ten Point Plan and for a handful of other schemes, including the now-closed Green homes Grant and the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. The top three nations in terms of total funding are the US (£971.75bn), Italy (£83.87bn) and Germany (£49.39bn).
A world without boilers?
The International Energy Agency (IEA) says that no new fossil fuel boilers should be sold from 2025 if the world is to achieve Net Zero emissions by the middle of this century.
Its special report, the third this month we’ve spotted, tackles the issue of how the world produces and consumes energy as our most critical endeavour.
A world without gas boilers would redefine UK homes, our public sector and indeed much of the energy efficiency work we do here at Energys.
And finally…
Don’t’ forget its World Environment Day on June 5th this month. A day to pause and reflect on our imprints and impacts. World Environment Day is a global platform for public outreach, with participation from over 143 countries annually. Each year, the program has provided a theme and forum for businesses, NGOs, communities, governments and celebrities to advocate environmental causes. Here at Energys Group, we’d recommend you take a look at their website and see what it’s all about.
