Smart meters have taken on a prominent role in the UK government’s energy demand reduction plans and discourse over the past decade. What expectations have been associated with smart metering roll out and how have they changed over time? How do expectations link with governance?
Will Brexit put energy efficiency progress in the UK at risk, ask Jan Rosenow, Pedro Guertler and Richard Cowart of RAP (Regulatory Assistance Project)? In electric appliances and heating systems – probably not. The biggest risk is in the building sector.UK policymakers will need to put efficiency first if they want to reach carbon targets …
Guest blog by Dr David Vincent Since 1945, UK energy policy has undergone seismic shifts as I set out in my first blog. Looking to the future, I think we will see more disruptive changes as we struggle to meet our climate change greenhouse gas emission reduction targets and learn to live responsibly (and happily) …
Guest blog by Dr David Vincent Since 1945, UK energy policy has undergone seismic shifts, starting with the energy industry nationalisations of the late 1940s and moving on to energy industry privatisations of the 1980s and 90s. These shifts were tempered with some ground-breaking, longer term thinking with respect to the climate change mitigation aspects …
The Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter famously described the “winds of creative destruction”: a process of industrial transformation in which product and process innovations revolutionise the existing industrial structure, destroying the old one by creating a new one. But the Chancellor’s 2016 Autumn Statement – delivered just five days after the UK ratified the Paris climate …
Dr Mari Martiskainen was one of the key speakers at ‘Warmer, Healthier and Fairer: Tackling Fuel Poverty’ event organised by Public Policy Exchange. Other key speakers at the event included MP Alan Whitehead, James Kerry, Senior Policy Advisor at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy as well as Paul Massara, member of the …
by Jan Rosenow and Richard Cowart The United Kingdom was once a world leader in energy savings. We proved that investing in buildings, insulating lofts, and switching to efficient boilers, motors, and lighting created jobs, saved money, and lowered the environmental costs of energy systems. But in recent years we have turned our back on …
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee has published a report following their inquiry into UK energy efficiency policy that featured CIED…
A new book analysing energy and environmental law and policy features contributions by two Centre on Innovation and Energy Demand researchers.
by Jan Rosenow & Richard Cowart In recent years across the UK, citizens, government, and the business community have all demonstrated a willingness to lead the world in the fight against climate change. So the mystery today is – why is the UK walking away from energy efficiency, the most effective and least-cost way of …
By Paula Kivimaa & Florian Kern Given the urgency of climate change, it is unfortunate that the recent ‘reset’ of UK energy policy missed a big opportunity. That is to take a more strategic approach to developing public policies to drive the rapid, transformative change required to reduce energy use and decarbonise its supply in …
by Karoline Rogge and Florian Kern Amber Rudd, the UK’s Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, in last week’s speech on a new direction for UK energy policy, had a welcome section on the importance of innovation. However, it was also slightly inconsistent. Rudd said that we need to develop cheap and green …
As we approach winter, many of us start turning the heating back on, but there are thousands of people across the UK who dread the onset of colder weather as they are forced into the fuel poverty trap. It is a phenomenon that kills, and worse, something we have become accustomed to. Another year, another …
The government’s decision to scrap the zero carbon homes target plus the equivalent for non-domestic houses is a major setback for achieving a low carbon UK and will undermine the credibility of the policy mix on building energy efficiency and beyond. The zero carbon homes target was announced in 2006 and, as the name suggests, …
“We need to see energy efficiency as part of the nation’s infrastructure programme”. This was the charge of Ed Davey, Liberal MP and Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. Davey was speaking at an Association for the Conservation of Energy event to say thanks to outgoing director Andrew Warren, often referred to as the cheerleader …
The Centre on Innovation and Energy Demand (CIED) was officially launched at a well-attended joint event with the All Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group at Portcullis House, London on 12th June 2014. Dr Alan Whitehead MP chaired a vigorous debate on the future energy-efficiency revolution – introduced by five panellists and followed by broader and …
