UK's so-called 'Net Zero Strategy'. "No Attention to Detail" - the Tory Government is Truly Incompetent.
CARELESS AND CLUELESS
19 Aug 2022
Wera Hobhouse MP urges government to incentivise solar power
29 Feb 2024
UK's so-called 'Net Zero Strategy'. "No Attention to Detail" - the Tory Government is Truly Incompetent.
CARELESS AND CLUELESS
19 Aug 2022
Cost of Living Crisis Survey
We are facing the worst fall in living standards in a generation due to spiralling costs of energy and food and declining real terms wages.
19 Aug 2022
Cost of living crisis: Government urged to cancel October energy price cap rise by Medway Liberal Democrats
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AWMLD
19 Aug 2022
Trees for Streets update
Bedford Borough was one of the first council areas to join the national Trees for Streets scheme in 2021.
19 Aug 2022
LibDem Councillors Demand Bus Bosses "Reverse Bus Cuts Now!"
At a meeting with First Group bosses this evening (18 August), North Somerset Liberal Democrat Councillors have demanded that proposed cuts to vital local bus services are scrapped. Cllr John Crockford-Hawley, Chair of the Place Scrutiny Panel, chairing the meeting said: "District Councillors are horrified at this unilateral decision by First to withdraw services, especially since here in North Somerset we have put so much effort and time into providing better facilities for passengers to use the network and will be working hard with government grants to further improve infrastructure." Cllr Patrick Keating, Blagdon and Churchill, highlighted the particularly damaging impact of cuts to rural areas, where people who do not have access to private cars are now cut off from vital services. "The agreement to save some parts of the X5 route shows that it is possible to find ways to save some services. First Bus and North Somerset Council must now quickly work together to reach an agreement to save routes under thre
PK
18 Aug 2022
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, called on the government to provide incentives for energy providers to develop solar power in the UK.
Mrs Hobhouse slammed the government for falling behind on meeting the UK’s renewable targets for solar energy capacity. The government plans to deploy 70 GW of solar power across the country by 2035. However, as of 2022, the UK had only installed 14.3 GW of solar pv.
Following a visit to a rooftop solar system installed by Bath & West Community Energy (BWCE) at Beechen Cliff School last year, Wera Hobhouse is keen to encourage the development of similar solar projects across Bath. The solar system is predicted to significantly cut the school’s fuel costs and reduce their carbon emissions by 52 tonnes a year.
In the House of Commons on the 27th February, the Bath MP noted that the UK is lagging behind the rest of the world in renewable energy investment, she urged the government to offer incentives to energy providers to improve solar capacity.
However, Andrew Bowie, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Energy Security and Net Zero, ignored Hobhouse’s proposals, failing to describe the ways in which the government could incentivise solar energy. Instead, Bowie said that the government’s Solar Taskforce would publish recommendations for solar power and reiterated the government’s target to deploy 70 GW by 2035.
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, commented:
“The Conservatives are falling dangerously behind on meeting our targets for renewable energy production. It is no good the government setting an ambitious 70 GW solar target if they are nowhere near reaching it.
“It is clear that they have no plan to get us back on track to reach Net Zero. Evidently, they are more than happy to dismiss perfectly good proposals like incentivising solar power. That is why I am so proud that Bath is home to many community energy projects like the solar system at Beechen Cliff School, so that we can lead the way in renewables.”
“It is not just our climate targets harmed by the Conservatives’ delay. Families in Bath and across the country are struggling to pay soaring energy bills which investment in renewables could curb. That is why we Liberal Democrats would build significantly more renewable energy, aiming to generate 80% of our electricity from renewables by 2030.”
Peter Capener, Managing Director of Bath & West Community Energy said:
“Our work with schools is really demonstrating the value of community energy in both addressing the climate crisis and reducing fuel bills. Rooftop solar installed last year has already saved local schools a combined total of £134,209 and has reduced carbon emissions by 224.3 tonnes, which is equivalent to 12,173 journeys from Bath to Edinburgh by train!”
