Well, the Budget’s out, and the ‘green’ elements have so far pretty much met our previous expectations. Opening the section on ‘Green Energy’ George Osborne promised, yet again, to deliver ‘the greenest Government ever’. Thus far, this has remained to be seen, but will the Budget 2011 make any difference?
Firstly, congratulating the Government for the work done so far towards this ‘greenest ever’ pledge, Osborne touted the efforts in launching the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) as well as its efforts to promote 'green' cars.
Then, pretty much as we suspected, it was revealed that the additional Carbon Capture Storage (CCS) projects will be funded from general spend rather than a complex new tax. No further details on the scale of funding were revealed.
Osborne also confirmed that the UK will become the first country in the world with a carbon floor price. This will start at £16 per tonne in 2013 and then rise to £30 a tonne by 2020. According to Government this will increase low carbon investment, and will provide an incentive for billions of pounds of investment in what Osborne says is our “dilapidated” energy infrastructure.
Last up was the Green Investment Bank (GIB), which will now launch a year earlier than expected, in 2012. The bank, which has already received £1 billion, will get an extra £2 billion from asset sales. However, the bank will not be allowed to borrow until 2015/16, and this will depend on debt targets being met.