Wednesday, 9 October 2013

UK Government Plans

key Information 

http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/2012/april/government-sets-out-long-terms-plans-to-develop-carbon-capture-technology/



Energy Secretary Ed Davey said that the Uk must reduce its CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050.


A carbon budget places a restriction on the total amount of greenhouse gases the UK can emit over a 5-year period. The UK is the first country to set legally binding carbon budgets.
Under a system of carbon budgets, every tonne of greenhouse gases emitted between now and 2050 will count. Where emissions rise in one sector, the UK will have to achieve corresponding falls in another.

We have set the first 4 carbon budgets in law, covering the period from 2008 to 2027. We have committed to halving UK emissions relative to 1990 during the fourth carbon budget period (2023 to 2027).

Each carbon budget is split into:
•      the traded sector, which is based on the UK’s share of the EU Emissions Trading System 
(EU ETS) limit for the period and covers power and heavy industry
•      the non-traded sector, which covers everything else like road transport, agriculture and buildings
Specifically, the carbon budgets limit our greenhouse gas emissions to:
•      3,018 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) over the first carbon budget period (2008 to 2012)
•      2,782 MtCO2e over the second carbon budget period (2013 to 2017)
•      2,544 MtCO2e over the third carbon budget period (2018 to 2022)
•      1,950 MtCO2e over the fourth carbon budget period (2023 to 2027)

These levels have been set by:
•      Carbon Budgets Order 2011
•      Climate Change Act 2008 (Credit Limit) Order 2011
•      Carbon Budgets Order 2009
•      Climate Change Act 2008 (2020 Target, Credit Limit and Definitions) Order 2009




Thoughts

I was surprised reading this as the government are currently implementing changes which I did not realise. Does this mean that the need to change has just not reached us yet, are they leading by example? Changing the way they work and larger corporations first, this of course will have a knock on effect to us.

Will this make change easier ?

   

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