Green Deal Doomed To Fail

The Green Deal has been on shaky ground ever since the details of the deal have been researched and found to be inconsistent at best. However, the Government's latest set of figures could spell the end for a deal which has had so much lobbying, hours of debate in Parliament, and I'm sure many millions of pounds of invested research.

The Government's own figures released today show that if the Green Deal was to go ahead, the number of lofts being insulated will drop a staggering 93%! The number of lofts insulated would reach a lowly 70,000! The Green Deal initially predicted 2.1 million lofts to be done! The number of cavity walls being insulated would be a piddly 170,000 when it should have been 1.4 million!

The Green Deal was supposed to create 65,000. This looks seriously doubtful now. 


The Green Deal was originally to be funded by the banks and the biggest energy companies. They were the businesses that were supposed to stump up the cash. But what chance was there of that ever happening?! Banks are hardly lending to businesses in the first place, and energy companies are way too protective of their cash to start giving it away in loans.


Whilst the Green Deal was a good idea, the initial research and figures laid out by the Government were fundamentally flawed. The Green Deal removes obligations from energy companies to improve the energy efficiency of people's homes and leaves it to the market. The problem with that is when you remove and obligation, the lack of motivation with most people, for whatever reason, means that take-up of the deal will be very low. Hence these appalling figures by the Government's own research facilities.


So, what now? Assuming the Green Deal collapses, the Government should look to focus on other energy efficiency measures set by the last Government that have been proven to work and continue to do so.


With the GGF lobbying hard to make sure energy efficient windows were included in the deal, it would be interesting to get their perspective on this latest batch of disappointing figures.


The Guardian has an article with more in-depth analysis and reaction. Click Here.