The Engineer

CCC urges government to protect low-carbon funding

News

The government should protect funding for low-carbon technologies developed in the UK to avoid missing emissions-reduction targets and green economic growth.

This was the advice of the independent Committee on Climate Change (CCC) in its report to the government’s chief scientific advisor, Prof Sir John Beddington, who requested the review in October 2009. The report’s release comes the week after the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s announcement that it will make £34m worth of cuts to its low-carbon technology programme.

Without government support, the CCC stated that a range of essential low-carbon technologies is likely to get stuck in a so-called ‘valley of death’, where development is curtailed and will fail to make it to market.

According to the committee, new low-carbon technologies will be vital in generating cleaner forms of electricity, which can then be used for electric vehicles and heating, and in delivering energy-efficient buildings − areas that will make a very significant contribution to meeting the 2050 target to reduce emissions by 80 per cent, relative to 1990 levels.

Register now to continue reading

Thanks for visiting The Engineer. You’ve now reached your monthly limit of news stories. Register for free to unlock unlimited access to all of our news coverage, as well as premium content including opinion, in-depth features and special reports.  

Benefits of registering

  • In-depth insights and coverage of key emerging trends

  • Unrestricted access to special reports throughout the year

  • Daily technology news delivered straight to your inbox

Register
Or continue by

Signing in with your registered email address