Yesterdays Budget has ensured that the UK has committed to building a low carbon recovery with the announcement of the first legally binding carbon budget. The carbon budget aims to cut 34 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. This will keep the UK on track for its long term goal of cutting emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.

Meeting the carbon budget means strengthening the long term framework for a low carbon energy future.  

The Combined Heat & Power Association has provided a summary of the key points outlined in the Budget:.

Yesterday’s Budget marks a major step towards establishing a low carbon industrial base in the UK, says the Combined Heat and Power Association (CHPA).
At a difficult point in the economic cycle, this vitally important Budget provides much needed certainty to investors in low carbon technologies such as combined heat and power (CHP) plant. CHP is a critical technology for the low carbon industrial recovery. It delivers low cost carbon savings – greening industry and helping to maintain the long-term sustainability of businesses.

The Government’s Budget commitments, which include the extension of the Climate Change Levy exemption beyond 2013, could help to deliver over £2.5 billion and up to £7.5 billion of investment in new CHP plant. According to the Government’s own research, there is the potential for more than 10,000 MWe of new combined heat and power capacity in the UK. It will also help safeguard some of the 116,000 jobs on a number of industrial sites around the UK which already have their energy needs meets by low carbon CHP plant.

Graham Meeks, director of the CHPA says:
“In difficult times, certainty is a valuable commodity. Today’s commitment to continue the fiscal framework for CHP beyond 2013 provides that certainty. It sends the signal that CHP must be a major part of the nation’s green economic recovery.”