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The Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics, published last month, gives an insight into how government energy policies are playing out. So, are the ministers achieving a low-carbon UK?

The EU targets for 2020 (to have 20% of energy from renewables) are fast approaching and we currently generate about 4% of our total energy requirements from renewables; so good so far. But perhaps the best investment is in Big Energy, rather than smaller installations – or is it?

Last year, electrical generation from gas declined sharply, with fuel use down by some 30%, while this fall was offset by a 32% increase in coal use, which was at its highest level since 2006; this is due to the high gas prices throughout the year. So the downside of Big Energy may well be its sensitivity to the fossil-fuel price.

If small-scale renewables are not achieving much and large-scale energy generation will always rely on the cheapest, most carbon-intensive fuel, what should the government’s solution be to getting a lower-carbon UK?

The total losses in delivering electricity to the socket were about 8%. This underlines the need to use electricity wisely at home and in the office and invest in energy efficiency.

The recent amendments to Part L seem to have missed the point - we need to thermally upgrade the existing housing stock as soon as possible.

The building industry is forging ahead with low-energy developments and is increasingly innovative in its solutions, while the government policies of lowering carbon emissions seem not to have achieved much to date. 

Rick Wheal is a consultant at Arup