The UK could reach 100 per cent renewable electricity over the next eleven years, with the uptake of clean technology able to generate 200,000 new jobs through government enabling policies.
The Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology’s (REA) has published an outline of how clean technology uptake has the ability to boost job growth and help the nation meet its net-zero target by 2050, in its ‘Strategy for Renewable Energy and Clean Technologies’.
The report outlines that by the end of 2022, renewables will account for over 50 per cent of electricity generation, and 100 per cent renewable electricity being achievable by 2032.
Heat and transport sectors could further be implemented with clean technologies, and enabling them to reach net-zero by 2050.
However, the trade body is very clear that in order for these attainable targets to be met, barriers must be removed.
‘For the green industry to thrive, it needs a clear route to market, a fit for purpose grid network and a wide mix of technologies,’ said the organisation wrote.
The report further details its long-term ambition for the transition to clean technology, and its interim goals along the way. This includes highlighting that a circular economy would be highly beneficial for the net-zero transition, foreseeing the elimination of food and garden waste from landfill by 2023. By separating and recycling all bio-waste either at the source or through collection, waste sector emissions can create valuable uses, the REA predicts.
This large-scale transition is dependent upon government policy and roadmaps, which the report specifies as including a fully decarbonised power grid able to incorporate a spectrum of clean technologies.
‘The UK’s energy system is in the midst of the largest transformation for generations, moving towards the legally-binding 2050 net-zero target for greenhouse gas emissions reductions. The change required over the next three decades is on a par to that experienced during the industrial revolution; affecting people’s homes, businesses and the very fabric of the nation,’ commented Dr. Nina Skorupska CBE, chief executive of REA.
‘With COP26 on the horizon, the government has an opportunity to make a bold statement – this strategy not only sets out several necessary and achievable targets, but it also provides the solutions to removing the barriers which could prevent those targets being met.’
