UK energy policy criticised for short-term approach

Energy policy in the UK focuses too much on short term crisis response rather than effective long term solutions, according to a study.

The Cambridge University report said recent decades had seen a clear shift away from preventative programmes such as large-scale energy efficiency investments towards measures that help households only after energy costs have increased.

"What we see is a system that increasingly responds to crises rather than reducing vulnerability in advance," said Minna Sunikka-Blank, Professor of Architecture.

The study points out that in the 1970s and 1980s, the UK was a global leader in energy efficiency. However, it said it was now “one of the few high-income European countries without a comprehensive, universally accessible scheme for retrofitting grants or loans that goes beyond heating system replacement”.