In an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on a national scale, the Government launched the Clean Growth Strategy in October which has been designed to develop a lower carbon future for the UK.



The document produced by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) can be downloaded and read here but if you don’t have time to read through all 165 pages, then this article which been produced by business gas specialists, Flogas Britain, summarises the strategy’s key points, and what they mean for UK homes and businesses.




The UK’s climate change commitment



To begin with, understanding the background legislation is important because it it is what shaped the Clean Growth Strategy.



The UK introduced the Climate Change Act in 2008, and as a result became the world’s first nation to self-impose a legally binding carbon reduction target.

The aim was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by 2050 (compared to the levels in 1990).




Progress towards the target



In March 2017, BEIS figures were published which revealed that the UK was well on its way to meeting this target, with a 42% drop of overall carbon emissions since 1990.

While this progress is motivating, the Government is aware that there is a lot more work to be done and that is where the Clean Growth Strategy proposal comes in to play.




What help could the Clean Growth Strategy offer?



In short, the aim of the Clean Growth Strategy is to accelerate the pace of ‘clean growth’ in two ways — decreasing emissions and increasing economic growth. With that in mind, the two guiding objectives that make up the strategy are:

• To meet domestic commitments at the lowest possible cost to UK consumers, taxpayers and businesses
• To enhance social and economic benefits for the UK from this transition

To be able to turn this vision into a reality, the Government has pledged to introduce lower-carbon processes, systems and technologies in the UK, in the most cost-efficient way possible for businesses and homes alike.




Key Proposals



The strategy’s proposal will focus on six key areas, which together make up 100% of the UK carbon emissions:

• Improving business and industry efficiency which makes up 25% if the UK emissions
• Improving our homes which currently that make up 13% if the UK emissions
• Speed up the shift to low-carbon transport that make up 24% of UK emissions
• Providing clean, smart and flexible power that make up 21% of the UK emissions
• Leading the public section that make up 2% of UK emissions

The full list of 50 pledges in this executive summary can be found here

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What this means for homes and businesses

Homes, business and industrial operations will be encouraged and supported by the Government to minimise their carbon footprint in a variety of ways.

A primarily focus will be to reassess the fuels used for jobs including heating, cooking and powering industrial and manufacturing processes and use cleaner, greener alternatives.



Not only does this mean boosting the uptake of renewable technologies such as heat pumps, biomass boilers and solar panels but in the longer term, cleaner conventional fuels will be recommended instead of more polluting ones.

For off-grid homes and businesses, the strategy sets out specific plans to phase out high-carbon forms of fossil fuels like oil.

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) will play a key part in replacing oil in rural parts of the country because it’s the lowest-carbon conventional off-grid fuel.

 Natural gas will still remain to be a popular choice for buildings connected to the mains network.

Not only because natural gas is affordable and accessible but because it s the lowest-carbon fossil fuel available.

Flogas, which specialises in highly competitive commercial mains gas, is expecting to see this part of the its business to continue to grow. 

The company also predicts that the ‘green gas’ phenomenon will grow in popularity as the Clean Growth Strategy rolls out.


Clean Growth Strategy supporters



The Clean Growth Strategy is receiving plenty of support from key industry figures following its unveiling. 



Flogas managing director Lee Gannon said: “Through the publication of its Clean Growth Strategy, the Government has made clear its intention to reduce carbon emissions from off-grid UK homes and businesses. 

“Natural gas is affordable, versatile, widely available and – most importantly – emits significantly less carbon than the likes of coal and oil.

“As such, it will continue to play a central role as the UK works towards cleaning up its energy landscape. We look forward to working alongside policymakers and wider industry stakeholders to make the Clean Growth Strategy the success that it deserves to be.”



The strategy is also receiving support from trade body Oil & Gas UK. It’s Upstream Policy Director, Mike Tholen, said: “Oil & Gas UK welcomes the Government’s commitment to technology in the strategy, especially with regards to carbon abatement measures such as carbon capture, usage and storage.

“We look forward to working with the Government to see how these technologies can further reduce emissions across the economy.”