Call over household carbon target

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A programme to ensure the residential sector makes its share of reductions of greenhouse gases would improve quality of life and energy security, create jobs and eradicate fuel poverty, the report from Oxford University's Environmental Change Institute said.

The Home Truths research warned only half the 30% cut needed by 2020 would be delivered by current Government policies.

The blueprint for change, outlined in the report for Friends of the Earth and the Co-operative Bank, aims to achieve universal low-carbon homes with solar panels, excellent insulation and a warmer and healthier atmosphere.

Much work would have to be done to increase the energy efficiency of existing housing stock, which will still make up 80% of the homes in which we live by 2050, the report said. Measures to ensure the 80% cut from housing, which currently contributes about a quarter of overall UK emissions, would cost about £12.9 billion a year over the next decade.

"These cuts are achievable but will require a quantum leap in commitment from the Government and a radical new approach," the report said.

Key recommendations of the report include financial incentives in the form of tax breaks and investments to ensure every UK home becomes low carbon, which will also lead to lower energy bills.

There needs to be a roll-out of low carbon technology as well as stricter regulations on appliances, and phasing out of all lighting except for light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which have the lowest energy consumption.

Home Truths called for reform of the energy market so that householders are guaranteed a premium price for any electricity they sell back to the grid from renewable sources such as solar panels, and to ensure energy saving not high consumption is rewarded in tariffs.

Tough minimum standards for homes, monitored by energy performance certificates, need to be introduced and progressively tightened. The report also called for legally binding targets for housing emissions to be reduced by 3.7% each year from 2008.