Britain should abolish its renewable energy targets and focus on less costly ways to cut carbon- dioxide emissions, according researchers at the Policy Exchange.
Britain could save 12.5 billion pounds ($20.6 billion) by scaling back ambitious wind projects around its coastline, the London-based research group said in an e-mailed report today. The U.K. should "renegotiate its commitment" to the European Union renewable target, the report said.
"The target diverts current and future resources away from measures that could save the same amount of carbon at a lower cost, such as energy efficiency, nuclear and carbon-capture and storage," Simon Moore, a research fellow and author of the report said. "The U.K.'s commitment to meeting the EU's renewable energy target is actually damaging the goal of global carbon reduction."
The European Union has a target of getting 20 percent of energy from renewable sources by 2020. That means the U.K. would need to raise its own renewable sources of power to about 30 percent. That target would cost the U.K. 66 billion pounds, the report said. Renewable power accounted for 6.6 percent of generation last year, government figures show.
It the U.K. is unable to back out of the commitments, it should make it easier to build wind farms, burn biomass in power stations and help spur energy efficient projects, the report said. The country should also buy renewable energy from countries that can produce it more cheaply, the report said.
