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UK Government unveils blueprint to spend £1bn to cut emissions from industry, schools and hospitals
Mar 29, 2021

The new Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy sets out the government’s vision for building a competitive and greener future for the UK.

Building on the ten-point plan

This blueprint builds on Boris Johnson’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution published last year, which you can find out more about here. The new strategy will support existing industry to decarbonise, as well as encourage the growth of new low carbon industries in the UK. Alongside this, it will give businesses long term certainty to invest in home-grown decarbonisation technologies, such as those that can capture and store carbon emissions from industrial plants. Positively, the proposed measures expected to create and support 80,000 jobs over the next 30 years whilst cutting emissions by two-thirds in just 15 years.

Greener energy 

The strategy also includes measures that will build on the UK’s efforts in the transition to greener energy sources, with an expectation of 20TW (terawatt-hours) of the UK industry’s energy supply switching from fossil fuels to low carbon alternatives by 2030. This will help industry to increase its low carbon energy use to around 40% of total energy consumption.

 

In addition, the government intends to introduce new rules on measuring energy and carbon performance of the largest commercial and industrial buildings, including office blocks and factories, in England and Wales.

Estimated business Savings 

The move is estimated to provide savings to businesses of around £2 billion per year in energy costs in 2030 and aims to reduce annual carbon emissions by more than two million tonnes. This is around 10% of the current emissions from commercial and industrial buildings and equivalent to removing emissions from a town the size of Doncaster.

British Gas Business

We care about creating a cleaner planet and helping you reduce emissions. By combining forces with Centrica Business Solutions, we’ll be able to provide you with advice and technologies to manage energy sustainability. Find out how we can support your business to cut emissions below.

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Balancing planet and profit during unprecedented market volatility

06 Jul, 2022
Balancing planet and profit during unprecedented market volatility

Why are energy prices high compared to a year ago?

By Vander Caceres • 14 Jun, 2022
Wholesale energy prices have experienced unprecedented levels of volatility since the end of summer 2021, with both day ahead/spot and future contracts surging to all-time highs. In the last couple of months, prices have decreased but still remain high compared to a year ago. This period of high energy prices is expected to continue for the foreseeable future (see next section). Energy prices have surged for a number of reasons: A global increase in gas demand following the ease or end of Covid-related restrictions throughout 2021. After the pandemic, economies across the world started to recover. Asian countries like China saw their imports of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) increase. This resulted in lower LNG shipments to the UK and Europe. On the supply side, the Covid-19 lockdowns pushed some maintenance work from 2020 into 2021 at a time when demand was recovering. In 2021, gas production hit a record low of 363TWh, 47TWh below the previous record low in 2013. Low production was the result of an extensive summer maintenance schedule which saw shutdowns at several major terminals, as well as the Forties Pipeline System which serves a significant proportion of UK gas and oil production. A lack of wind in the summer resulted in higher demand for conventional power. European gas storage in 2021 and Q1’22 remained far below previous years and it’s unclear how these are going to be replenished in the summer given the concerns around supply including the potential suspension of Russian gas flows due to sanctions. The 1,234km offshore Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which was designed to double the flow of gas between Russia and Germany (and by extension the rest of Europe) has been abandoned following the invasion of Ukraine. Gas storage in the UK is extremely minimal with capacity at less than 2% of the UK’s annual demand, compared with 22% for other European countries. Whilst the UK is not heavily reliant on gas coming from Russia, it sources almost half it’s gas supply from Europe. Hence, wholesale gas and power prices in the UK are now subject to knock-on-effects from the conflict in Ukraine.

What does volatility mean for your journey to net zero?

20 May, 2022
Amidst rising energy costs, digitalisation, growing pressure from stakeholders and increasing regulation, organisations may struggle to define their pathway to a low-carbon future. What can you do to protect your business’ net zero plans from the challenges of volatility? Disruption and volatility are putting organisations under pressure. Digitalisation and new technology developments continue to challenge existing business models. Its increasing dependence on energy and encouraging businesses to drive change to secure competitive advantage. And as customers, employees and shareholders look to engage with companies who understand the importance of decarbonisation, pressure is mounting to prioritise sustainability.
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