Rudd: Government ‘committed’ to renewable energy targets

Questioned by members of the Energy and Climate Change Committee on Tuesday, Ms Rudd said: “It is my aim that we should meet the 2020 target”.

The target is for Britain to meet 15 percent of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2020 but it had achieved just over 6 percent by the end of 2014.

If the Government was to miss the EU-target, it could leave itself open to judicial review and face fines from the European Court of Justice.

Ms Rudd’s frank letter was sent on October 29 to Philip Hammond, the Foreign Secretary, Oliver Letwin, the Cabinet Office, Greg Hands, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and Patrick McLoughlin the Transport Secretary.

Speaking Tuesday, Rudd insisted the U.K.is on track to meet those targets, although new policies are needed especially on heat and transport.

The revelation the Government is set to miss the 2020 renewable target is the latest blow in the Tories green credentials. Concerns over the renewable energy project pipeline have been further fuelled by the cancellation of a planned auction of subsidy support contracts this autumn. “It does cost and the cost falls mostly on to small businesses and consumers”.

Head of energy Daisy Sands said: “For the first time, we learn that the government is expecting to miss the EU’s legally binding renewables target”. “This is hugely shocking”.

“This is also shown by the more than 55,000 responses to the Feed-in Tariff public consultation received by DECC – an unprecedented number showing the widespread outrage and these extreme cuts”.

This also comes as last week a ComRes survey for the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) showed that the British public backed subsidies for renewable energy sources (66% wind, 73% solar and 75% early stage renewables) and that support for renewables subsidies combined was at 83%.

It did not matter, she told MPs, because “we’re still meeting our renewables targets”.

“It beggars belief that ministers are pursuing these regressive steps, and damaging our global reputation on climate change, less than a month before the important Paris summit”.

Responding to the leak, a Department of Energy & Climate Change spokesperson said: “We do not comment on leaked documents”.

According to the annual world energy outlook published by the worldwide Energy Agency, renewable resources such as wind, solar and biomass delivered nearly half the world’s new power generation in 2014 and are set to become the leading source of new supply between now and 2040.

The U.K.’s renewable energy goal is made up of three targets for clean electricity, heat and transport.