New research conducted by the Association for Decentralised Energy (ADE) has claimed the UK could save up to £3 billion a year in energy expenditure by implementing “immediate, practical, cost effective steps” to improve efficiency.
Its research, published today, found that more than half (54%) of electricity in the UK is wasted as it is transmitted through the national grid, and that better use of energy efficiency technology throughout UK-based businesses could make a substantial contribution to driving down energy demand.
Power generation efficiency and transmission efficiency have only improved by 7% and 0.2% respectively in the last 25 years – compared to a 79% increase in energy productivity – and ADE claims that better targeting of losses in electricity networks could save the UK as much as £605 million per year.
And if businesses and manufacturers in the UK adopted more energy efficient techniques, they could save as much as £570 million on their energy bills according to ADE’s analysis.
The association criticised previous policy measures, including the Electricity Demand Reduction scheme, for lacking “significant ambition”, claiming that businesses had been prevented from participating due to a comparative lack of funding in comparison to investments in power generation.
Earlier this week the Department of Energy and Climate Change revealed proposals to carry out sweeping reforms of the energy efficiency in business tax system, including the potential abolition of the Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme.
DECC has included scope for further incentives to be introduced however the ADE has said that the current review should be used as an “opportunity to increase, not decrease, our energy productivity ambition”.
