Coalition pushes back 2030 electricity decarbonisation target

The coalition ended months of internal rows and agreed key details of its energy bill late on 22 November.

The agreement, issued as a press release, paves the way for the bill to be issued next week.

But it reveals that the Treasury has won out over the energy and climate department (DECC) on the key issue of a target to decarbonise UK electricity supply by 2030.

MPs, business and NGOs have all been calling for a target to reduce the carbon intensity of UK electricity to 50 grams of CO₂ per kilowatt hour by 2030, down from 486g today (ENDS Report, October 2012).