Energy UK cautions Davey about carbon intensity target

Energy UK, the industry association for gas and electricity sector, published a letter to the energy and climate change secretary Ed Davey last week calling for a re-think on carbon intensity targets for 2030. Energy UK warned a carbon intensity target for 2030 risked introducing a "regulatory layer" that overlapped with other low-carbon initiatives. Energy UK chief executive Angela Knight said the measure could restrict "flexible delivery" of carbon budgets, and would only be useful if assessed to be "technically feasible" and affordable. The government would also need to allow for adjustments to be made to the target in light of new evidence, she argued. Knight enclosed with her letter a briefing paper setting out Energy UK's overall view on carbon intensity targets. The view of Energy UK was that carbon targets for 2030 should only be adopted if impacts on UK consumers and international competitiveness were taken into account, if the targets were flexible enough to allow revised assumptions, and were considered holistically alongside other UK and EU targets.
Energy UK--letter      Energy UK--briefing paper