We know that the way we heat our houses, businesses and industry will have to be different, as well as reducing wasted energy from those buildings and processes. Heating accounts for 50% of both our energy use and associated emissions and yet only 3% of our heating is renewable. With heating costs having increased by 40% since 2010, 4.3 million people living in fuel poverty and 4 million off the gas grid, we need a revolution in how we keep warm. As well as dedicated renewable solutions like wood heat and heat pumps, we can also be smarter with the heat left over from power generation, using combined heat and power (CHP) to feed district heating schemes connecting thousands of homes.


We know the way we fuel our journeys has to change too. We need to wean ourselves off polluting, expensive, imported fossil fuels. 25% of the UK’s total carbon emissions come from domestic transport. We have made some progress - sustainable biofuels used in the UK currently achieve 70% greenhouse gas savings compared with fossil fuels. Yet there is more we can be doing today to expand the share of conventional biofuels and spur innovation in advanced biofuels. In future, electric vehicles may have a key role to play once the proportion of our electricity supply is truly high-renewables and low-carbon, but advanced fuels made from wastes can play a crucial role in future proofing areas of transport than cannot move to electricity, such as biomethane for freight and jet biodiesel in aviation.


We know we must use organic resources much more effectively, minimising the amount we waste and recycling our leftovers to make green farming products, like compost and biofertiliser, and green energy, via anaerobic digestion, energy-from-waste plants and advanced conversion


technologies. The next Government will have to set out their vision on how the UK is going to get on track for both existing 2020 targets and future 2030 targets for emissions and recycling. We need ambitious targets coupled with robust national plans setting out how we will achieve them.


This industry can deliver. More and more technologies are approaching competitiveness with fossil fuels, enabling us to move towards a new energy paradigm, one which has already begun in many countries. Combining grid-competitive renewable electricity with effective energy storage will spark a revolution in the energy system that truly enables homes and communities to fully take back control and become more independent from centralised energy suppliers. We need a government that is looking forward to the energy industry we want, not one looking to preserve the antiquated status quo.


Our industry is ready to face these challenges and realise the opportunities. Whoever wins in 2015, we will work with them to realise a clean energy vision.


Dr Nina Skorupska Chief Executive, REA


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