A new report has suggested that UK homeowners have the potential to cut CO2 emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.

Researchers at the Oxford University Environmental Change Institute said to achieve the ambitious goal the government would need to invest a massive £13 billion in promoting green housing renovations over the coming decades.

This money would primarily be put towards installing energy-conserving devices such as double glazing and cavity wall insulation, as well as rolling out energy efficient boilers and on-site renewable energy supplies.

Commenting on the report, Brenda Boardman, senior research fellow at the Environmental Change Institute, said reducing household CO2 emissions would play a "crucial" role in meeting the government's ambitious climate change targets.

Those targets also envisage making all new homes zero carbon by 2016, but it is the UK's existing housing stock that now causes the highest degree of concern among environmental groups.

UK homes are currently responsible for about 27 per cent of the country's greenhouse gas emissions.

© Adfero Ltd

Author:  Joanne McCabe

Publish our Green issues articles on your own site!

All our Green issues articles are available for republishing, provided the links in the content remain intact. You can also use our RSS news feed to republish all of our Green issues articles.