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Committee on Climate Change says making energy companies to insulate empty lofts and walls would cut national emissions Energy companies should be forced to insulate every empty loft and cavity wall in the UK within four years, say the government’s climate change advisers. The independent Committee on Climate Change (CCC) says the measure would boost efforts to cut national carbon emissions; in 2010 the number of loft insulations fell by 30% on the previous year. “The government should state this ambition and energy companies should be on the hook to deliver these emissions reductions,” said David Kennedy, the CCC’s chief executive. The coalition’s government’s ” green deal ” proposals to overhaul ageing and leaky homes and reduce consumer energy bills could be a major part of the UK’s action against global warming, says Kennedy, but must have firm targets to be effective. The committee’s recommendations are often accepted by ministers. In the UK, 10m (43%) of all lofts remain unlagged and 8m houses with cavity walls (42%) have yet to be insulated. Kennedy made his call as the CCC launched its legally requiredannual report on progress in cutting greenhouse gases. It found that people were buying less-polluting cars, but the required improvements in environmentally friendly driving had not materialised. Furthermore, delays in building the first carbon capture and storage demonstration plants and boosting use of public transport were damaging efforts to meet the UK’s legally binding carbon targets, the toughest in the world. Christine McGourty, director of Energy UK, which represents the gas and electricity industry, said: “Energy companies have already made a substantial contribution to improving people’s leaky homes. In the past few years, companies have insulated more than 1.5m cavity walls and more than 2m lofts, helping consumers save up to £260 a year on their bills.” According to the CCC report, the number of professional installations of loft and cavity wall insulation fell by 30% between 2009 and 2010. Kennedy blamed this on a “perverse incentive” in the existing scheme for energy companies to help their customers stop heat leaking from their homes, which meant activity stopped when a certain number had been treated. Electricity and gas providers are currently under fire from regulators and consumer groups, who criticise the scores of confusing price tariffs and recent large price rises. Kennedy acknowledged the risk in asking the companies that sell energy to enable their customers to use less. But he said that risk could be overcome if the scheme was carefully designed. “It is very important that someone is on the hook,” he said. “The experience over four decades is that the free market does not deliver home energy-efficiency measures.” Friends of the Earth campaigner Dave Timms agreed the government’s policies “don’t go far enough or fast enough” to meet carbon targets, adding: “For too long energy firms have made huge profits selling ever-increasing amounts of energy while some people freeze in poorly insulated homes. Forcing energy companies to carry out all the necessary energy efficiency improvements is an attractive idea.” A CCC spokesperson added: “Safeguards are needed to ensure energy companies do not pass through excessive costs. Also, compensatory measures may be needed for fuel-poor households.” The CCC report analyses the changes in the UK’s carbon emissions and found that, when the effects of the recent cold winter and the recession were accounted for, the trend was flat. “We are below the level of the 2008-12 budget because of the very big emissions reduction in 2009 due to the recession , not because we had begun to do things fundamentally differently, and we should not be deceived by that,” said Kennedy. A return to business as usual in the economy would mean the UK would exceed its future carbon targets, because they required a 3% cut every year. Changes to car emissions were rated as “good” in the CCC report, with the average pollution by new vehicles down from 160g of CO 2 /km in 2008 to 144g in 2010. But counteracting that was a slight rise in speeding and the prospect of the speed limit being raised to 80mph , which the CCC said would result in 3.5m extra tonnes of CO 2 being emitted each year. Carbon emissions Climate change Energy efficiency Energy Green building Energy bills Consumer affairs Household bills Energy industry Green politics Green deal Committee on Climate Change Damian Carrington guardian.co.uk