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Can trade apprenticeships be better than a university degree – both for the individual, and for society? Join the debate by emailing letters@westerndailypress.co.uk

Improving insulation.

Significantly raising standards of insulation in new build houses has continuously been kicked down the road. The powerful building lobby has made sure of this, stating that it would increase the cost to buy a house. This might be so, although not by very much and such cost would be spread over 25 years of mortgage repayments. Compare this with the immediate saving from the reduction of energy costs – in the case of Passivhaus standards, reduced close to zero. The saving would far outstrip the additional mortgage cost.

Retro fitting insulation in existing housing (including the new builds mentioned above) is more challenging but the majority of houses could be done straightforwardly with some hard to insulate homes requiring more adaptation. With Government support for retrofit (I comment on funding below), this would also result in big savings for households.

Heat pumps, et. al. It is generally acknowledged that heat pumps need to replace gas boilers as the main source of heating. The Government recognises this and provides support to households to fit. However, this support needs to be higher, particularly for low-income households who would otherwise struggle to foot the bill.

A problem here is the cost of electricity which is inexplicably linked to the price of gas. Even if the electricity coming down your wires is from cheaper renewables, you will be charged the much higher gasrelated price (this partly explains the big profits being made by energy companies). This must change to make electricity prices match their genuine generation costs.

If you throw in solar and storage (including neighbourhood solar schemes) into the mix, the potential household savings would be significant.

Economic savings. Last year the UK imported £117 billion worth of energy, primarily gas and oil. Moving over to a sustainable renewable economy, including the measures mentioned above, would save enormous sums on imports and thereby help the country economically.

The Government would also be a beneficiary of such savings via various mechanisms (direct costs to public services for example).

This in turn could help to fund the transition. The Labour Party has said that it wishes to raise investment into transition to £28 billion a year. This in itself is modest but yet the Labour Party is nervous about Conservative funding criticisms and may yet draw back from its promises.

But what is the problem with borrowing to invest? That is what all successful economies have done. Regarding affordability, UK Government borrowing as a percent of GDP is much less than that of the US for example, and the US doesn’t seem to be concerned about challenges of imprudence. The UK Government could theoretically borrow £500 billion and still not exceed the borrowing levels of the US.

Transition to a sustainable renewable economy is not just about saving the planet. It also makes perfect financial sense for the UK economy, for the UK Government and for households and families. It’s quite simply a no-brainer.

Unfortunately, we are being told untruths by the gas and oil giants, the generators, the housebuilders and the many other powerful vested interests in the status quo – with the acquiescence of the political parties.

Let’s hope that people power overcomes this and we can all look forward to a brighter and economically sustainable future. Dave Roberts

By email

Steve Bould A welder at work. Welding apprenticeships are among many trade courses that can lead to satisfying careers