The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) says UK households could have saved over £1,500 on energy bills in 2022 if the UK had shifted away from oil and gas more quickly.
Britain was the first G7 country to commit to reach net zero emissions, but ECIU says progress on climate and energy policies and the shift to newer, cleaner technologies has “either slowed or not been as ambitious” as other countries such as Estonia and Poland on heat pumps and Norway on electric cars.
It says the shift to technologies including renewables, home insulation, rooftop solar panels, heat pumps and electric vehicles could have meant a saving of around £1,750 on energy bills in 2022 for UK households.
It also says £400 has been added to food bills this year due to the “impact of climate change and oil and gas prices on the food and farming system”, meaning the combined impact on a household’s bills could potentially be in the order of £2,150.
It’s clear that had investments in home insulation, onshore wind and other net zero technologies been made earlier, homes could be thousands of pounds better off
For the UK as a whole, the costs of “slow deployments” of net zero technologies, the ban on onshore wind, the cutting of insulation programmes and the slowdown in rooftop solar panel installations, could be in the region of £39 billion, it says.
The analysis, The cost of not zero in 2022, by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) comes at the end of a year that saw a record-breaking heatwave with temperatures reaching 40.3 °C.
Commenting, Jess Ralston, Head of Energy at ECIU said: “The IMF says that the UK is over-reliant on gas and that particular chicken has come home to roost this year with many households struggling to pay their bills.
“It’s clear that had investments in home insulation, onshore wind and other net zero technologies been made earlier, homes could be thousands of pounds better off.
“Upfront investments are needed, but just as green levies on bills have built a renewable energy industry delivering cheap, clean electricity and jobs, the paybacks are measured in thousands of pounds for homes and billions for the UK as a whole.”