An obstacle to Cumbria reaching its zero-carbon target will be properties with poor energy efficiency, a report has revealed.
The Green Investment Plan was published this week, with the help of contributors including Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership, the county council, Lake District National Park Authority, borough councils and more.
The report called for £20 million in funding for several decarbonisation projects including wind power and power-to-gas.
Ciara Shannon, project lead of Green Investment Plan Cumbria, said: “This is a great opportunity for big companies and everyday people of Cumbria to come together and create something that is long-term and long lasting for Cumbria.
“With their help we have created a plan full of projects that could put Cumbria on the map for investable projects outside of London.”
Projects would support concerted efforts across Cumbria to cut the county’s carbon emissions to net zero by 2030.
But the report identifies the energy performance of Cumbria’s homes as one of the major obstacles to the plan.
Homes and businesses that are as efficient as they can be hold an A grade Energy Performance Certificate. But the report said: “In Cumbria, about 12 per cent of homes were privately rented in 2011, and about 70 per cent of those are likely to have an EPC of D or below.
“Hence, around 21,000 properties in this sector will need work to improve their energy efficiency within the next seven years.”
The project said: “The 29 million existing homes across the UK must be made low carbon, low-energy and resilient to a changing climate. The Climate Change Committee’s Sixth Carbon Budget (December 2020) suggests that investment in decarbonising UK’s homes will need to rise to a peak of £14 billion per year by 2028 and continue at a scale of £6.7 billion per year until 2048.”
Jill Perry, of Allerdale and Copeland Green Party, said: “That doesn’t surprise me at all. It is a key thing to get to net zero and it’s a key thing to provide jobs. It’s good that they recognised that as a big problem.
“It’s largely because we’ve got old housing stock where insulation was never really thought of.”
Mrs Perry welcomed the report’s recommendation for a wind farm off the coast of Copeland and a power-to-gas facility in the Carlisle area. But she said that more investment will also be needed in Allerdale and the nation’s railways.
“We need to do something about that, there is a big lack there and it’s imperative everything is spread out across the county and we get local benefit.”
She said that improved rail connectivity will benefit the green agenda. “More investment in public transport full stop and electrification of the bus services but many more buses, electrification of the rail system and suitable safe provision for pedestrians and cyclists, and then we’ll talk about the number of cars on the road.”
Transport for the North also published its decarbonisation strategy this week, encouraging a shift towards more sustainable modes of transport and active travel.
It encouraged the expansion of charging facilities for electric cars as well as the use of hydrogen and alternative fuel vehicles.
