Sarah Boyack: Cash inducements needed to raise our energy efficiency

Published on Wednesday 3 December 2008 19:42

MONDAY'S Inside Holyrood column (Green scheme creates warm glow – The Scotsman, 1 December) praised the Green Party for suggesting an area-based approach to delivering energy efficiency.

This is something Labour has advocated in Scotland, and we have argued that we should follow the lead of the many councils in England who have done precisely that.

Energy efficiency and household renewables go hand in hand and the SNP must bring about a mass market for installation.

I believe we need fiscal incentives for householders and businesses to improve the energy efficiency of new and existing housing stock and ensure that micro-generation technologies such as solar water heaters and mini wind turbines become widely available and used.

People in England are far ahead of us. They have that power, through council tax reductions to promote area-based schemes where local authorities are able to work together to give people the insulation which will see them saving on their utility bills. We need the same opportunities in Scotland.

Furthermore, in September Gordon Brown announced new action on energy efficiency incentives for householders and free energy efficiency measures for pensioners. Labour has lobbied both the Scottish Government and power companies to make sure we get the full range of measures in Scotland, too.

The advantage of area-based schemes is that they raise awareness amongst householders and are a cost effective way of reducing both people's bills and their carbon emissions. It also means that people living in disadvantaged areas don't miss out. The green light for feed-in tariffs from the UK government will mean householders paid for exporting energy to the grid.

It will take a huge cultural shift to become a low-carbon society. We need to involve people in the clean energy debate and bring home to people their personal role and ability to tackle climate change. Housing associations can demonstrate that measures in new houses, such as high energy efficiency standards and micro-generation technologies, lead to warmer homes, cheaper bills and reduced emissions – I don't know anyone who would object to that. But resources are needed and there are still too many barriers.

Energy Savings Trust research suggested widespread installation of micro-generation could provide 30 to 40 per cent of our electricity needs by 2050, but that current investment is insufficient to achieve these goals. The Scottish Government is talking about committing to an 80 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050, but this is pie in the sky if we do not take all possible action now.

I understand why the Scottish Government does not want to support giving householders 100 off council tax to help with installation costs for micro-generation. But this measure would be an effective way to support hard-pressed households and the plethora of businesses in Scotland that design, market and manufacture this technology.

This rebate would make it easier for the renewables industry to survive the current economic downturn by increasing their trade.

We have a fantastic renewables industry developing in Scotland, but without orders and the removal of planning barriers it will not achieve its full potential.

In March 2007 a planning requirement for all major developments to reduce their projected carbon emissions by 15 per cent through the use of on site renewables was introduced. We now need to see this applied to all new houses and, crucially, existing buildings. The remaining barrier is to remove the planning red tape that is smothering renewables. During a debate on energy efficiency the minister promised the measures would be out by Christmas. But the manufacturers of household renewables – Scottish companies – are worried that this won't go far enough and home grown manufacturing jobs could be lost. That would be a real tragedy.

&#149 Sarah Boyack is the Labour MSP for Edinburgh Central