Cavity wall insulation being installedImage source, Getty Images
Image caption, The UK has some of the least energy efficient homes in Europe.

A group of MPs want to improve the energy efficiency of UK homes.

A window of opportunity was missed last summer to get more homes insulated according to the Environmental Audit Committee.

A faster move away from fossil fuels is one of the recommendations in the report.

Burning fossil fuels is meeting almost all of the UK's energy needs.

Philip Dunne, the Conservative MP who chairs the Environmental Audit Committee, says that we must fix our leaking housing stock, which is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

The government could have gone further and faster.

Progress to improve the UK's leaking homes has been slow.

It was not always like that. The number of energy efficiency annual installations peaked in 2012 at 2.3m thanks to government subsidies, but after David Cameron slashed support numbers fell, with less than 100,000 upgrades installed in 2021.

2.5 million homes will be upgraded each year by the end of the 20th century if more money is spent on insulation.

In response to the MPs report, the government said it had committed £6 billion to make buildings more energy efficient over the next ten years.

The spokesman said that the government launched a new campaign to raise awareness of simple actions people can take to save energy.

The MPs want the fossil fuel industry to do more to reduce emissions. They say that the flaring of gas should be banned completely.

The merits of recent controversial new fossil fuel projects were not agreed upon by the MPs.

The report calls for a clear end date for the new oil and gas licensing rounds so the government can continue to demonstrate its international climate leadership.

The government approved a coalmine in Cumbria in recent months, angering environmentalists. Climate scientists and the United Nations recommend that there be no more oil, gas or coal if the world is to have a chance of keeping the temperature from rising more than 1.5 degrees.

The government believes that North Sea gas will have a lower carbon footprint than imported gas.

In the last decade, the UK has seen a rapid expansion of clean energy with renewable sources now accounting for 40% of domestic electricity generation. It's becoming more and more difficult to build new wind turbine on land.

The report calls for a closer look at the potential of tidal energy.

Mr Dunne said that there was need for bold action.

Russia's aggression in Europe has shown us how vulnerable our over reliance on imported fossil fuels can be.

You can follow him on the social media sites.

  • Wind power
  • North Sea oil and gas
  • Climate change
  • Renewable energy