<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/may/01/solar-panels-fitted-all-new-build-homes-england-by-2027>
"Almost all new homes in England will be fitted with solar panels during
construction within two years, the government will announce after Keir Starmer
rejected Tony Blair’s criticism of net zero policies.
Housebuilders will be legally required to install solar panels on the roofs of
new properties by 2027 under the plans.
The policy is estimated to add between £3,000 and £4,000 to building a home but
homeowners would save more than £1,000 on their annual energy bills, according
to the
Times.
Labour has set a target of building 1.5m homes by the end of the parliament.
The party has promised to decarbonise the electricity grid by 2030 and cut
household energy bills by £300 a year.
Ministers are also preparing to offer government-funded loans and grants for
the installation of solar panels on existing homes.
The move is a sign that the government will press ahead with its net zero
agenda after Starmer rejected criticisms of climate policy from Blair.
In a high-profile intervention days before the local elections, Blair said
there needed to be a radical reset of “irrational” net zero policies that were
“doomed to fail”.
The former Labour prime minister argued that the public was being asked to make
“financial sacrifices and changes in lifestyle” that would have “minimal”
effect on global emissions. He said the drive to phase out fossil fuels in the
short term was “doomed to fail” because their production and demand were
rising.
His remarks angered government figures and triggered a response from senior No
10 officials, who called the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) and
urged it to address the fallout. The TBI issued a clarifying statement on
Wednesday morning saying it believed the government’s net zero policy was “the
right one”."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
