: U.K. Sets Out Sweeping Plan to Reach Net-Zero Emissions #WorldNEWS The U. K. unveiled its net-zero strategy on Tuesday as it tries to showcase its green credentials ahead of key climate talks later

U.K. Sets Out Sweeping Plan to Reach Net-Zero Emissions #WorldNEWS
The U. K. unveiled its net-zero strategy on Tuesday as it tries to showcase its green credentials ahead of key climate talks later this month. It will move taxes from electricity to gas, fund carbon-capture, and offer grants for cleaner home heating.
It estimates the cost of the transition could be 1-2% of GDP by 2050, and moving away from fossil fuels will also hit tax revenue. The government expects the strategy to create 440,000 jobs by 2030, and wants to leverage 90 billion pounds (4 billion) of private investment on the same time frame.
Here’s a breakdown of the measures so far:
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Lower Power Bills
The U. K. aims to make electricity bills cheaper, by shifting environmental levies onto gas as part of efforts to encourage electrification.
“We want to reduce electricity costs so when the current gas spike subsides we will look at options to shift or rebalance energy levies” away from electricity to gas “over this decade,” it said in a strategy document.
It will also look at expanding carbon pricing as part of the review.
Carbon-Free Power by 2035
The government aims for power generation to be carbon-free by 2035.
That will require total public and private investment of 280 to 400 billion pounds in generation capacity and flexible assets like batteries. Grids will need an extra 20 to 30 billion pounds by 2037.
Carbon Capture Clusters
The government has chosen two industrial hubs to get funding by the mid-2020s. It’s earmarked around 1 billion pounds for four carbon-capture projects a technology that’s crucial for reaching net zero goals but the sites will still be subject to value-for-money tests.
The funding could help drastically cut emissions from some of Britain’s biggest polluting industries. And by choosing areas with the most industrial activity, it opens up the possibility for many businesses to use the same infrastructure, reducing costs.
The two projects that the U. K. has targeted first are the East Coast Cluster and Hynet. For the East Coast Cluster, a consortium of BP Plc, Equinor ASA, Eni SpA, National Grid Plc, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and TotalEnergies SE plan to develop the offshore infrastructure to transport and store CO2 in the U. K. ’s North Sea, with BP as the operator.
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Hynet plans to produce clean hydrogen and capture and store CO2 from energy-intensive industries. The project includes Progressive Energy, Cadent Gas Ltd. , Essar Oil U. K. Ltd. , Eni and CF Fertilisers U. K. Ltd.
The U. K. is aiming to capture a total of 20-30 million tons of carbon a year by the early 2030s across the economy, more than double the previous ambition, and at least 50 million tons by the mid-2030s.