Environment & Energy
Latest Environment & Energy Publications
Clean Growth: How to boost business energy productivity
Joshua BurkeThe Government should establish a new Energy Efficiency Delivery Unit and Energy Performance Certificates should be linked to business rates to incentivise landlords to invest more in energy efficiency, according to Clean Growth, the new report from Policy Exchange’s influential and expert Energy and Environment team. The report calls for a new approach by Government to encourage investment in business energy efficiency to reduce carbon emissions and improve business productivity. Existing tools like the Energy Saving Opportunity Scheme can be much better used – and must be extended to public sector institutions like the NHS and MoD.
Driving down emissions: How to clean up road transport?
Richard Howard, Matthew Rooney, Zoe Bengherbi and David CharlesworthIn this major new report — by Policy Exchange’s Head of Energy and Environment, Richard Howard, alongside Matt Rooney, Zoe Begherbi, and David Charlesworth — the case is set out that the Government must take more action now to tackle the twin problems of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution from road transport. Amongst other key findings, the report’s analysis reveals that hitting carbon targets will leave a £9-23 billion p.a. hole in tax receipts by 2030, and that official estimates of vehicle emissions and fuel efficiency are highly misleading.
Going Round in Circles: Developing a new approach to waste policy following Brexit
Richard Howard and Tom GallowayBrexit presents a huge opportunity for the UK Government to develop a new approach to waste and resources policy. Rather than adopting the EU’s proposed ‘Circular Economy Package’, which would cost British businesses an extra £2 billion over the next twenty years, the British government should use Brexit to define our own approach.
Latest Environment & Energy Blogs
Comment on the Government’s 25-year environmental plan
Policy Exchange’s Josh Burke comments favourably on the Prime Minister’s speech on the environment – the first such speech by a Prime Minister in over 10 years.
The secret to cheaper energy – it’s all in the cost curve
The cost of energy is frequently cited as one of the issues voters care about most, but how can we bring costs down? Various new electricity generation technologies, like wave energy, tidal lagoons and small modular nuclear reactors, stand on the precipice of mass deployment. But industry alone may not be willing or able to make the leap from demonstration and commercial deployment. Should the Government intervene to help bridge the gap? In this article originally published in Business Green, Policy Exchange Research Fellow Matt Rooney explores the concept of ‘technological learning’. Can other technologies replicate the success of solar panels and wind turbines to bring costs down and make them competitive with established technologies?
Challenges and opportunities for the UK trade in waste
Following his evidence session to the Lords EU Energy and Environment Sub Committee, Energy and Environment Research fellow Joshua Burke reflects on the opportunities and challenges facing the UKs trade in waste post Brexit. The impact of tariff and non-tariff barriers on the regulatory, spatial, environmental and economic dimensions that govern the UK’s trade in waste are examined in the context of Refuse Derived Fuel.
Latest Environment & Energy News
Future farming policy to reward enhancing the environment – as called for by Policy Exchange
Policy ExchangeEnvironment Secretary Michael Gove has announced that a post-Brexit agricultural policy will reward farmers for public goods rather than acreage – as recommended in Policy Exchange’s Farming Tomorrow. The paper says that flood prevention, tree planting and biodiversity should all be subsidised rather than food production.
Joshua Burke gives evidence to Parliamentary committee
Joshua BurkePolicy Exchange Energy and Environment Research Fellow gave evidence to the House of Lords EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee, speaking on opportunities for waste management following Brexit – the subject of our report Going Round in Circles.
Where should the Chancellor focus his attention for a low-carbon transition?
Joshua BurkePolicy Exchange Energy and Environment Research Fellow Joshua Burke writes for Business Green with some recommendations for how the Chancellor, Phillip Hammond, should focus his attention for a low-carbon transition.
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