30 November 2007
Giving consumers cash bonuses to adopt a more environmentally-friendly domestic energy policy could cut gas and electricity bills by £475 per year, the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University said yesterday.
The recommendation was published in the Institute's Home Truths report - which said that the financial incentives could result in nationwide savings totalling £12.3 billion annually by 2050.
A side benefit to such a scheme would be an 80% reduction in UK carbon emissions, the report added.
Brenda Boardman, the report's author, said that the plan's bill cuts and environmental benefits offered a "win-win scenario", Reuters reports.
The report also states: "The scientific consensus is that for the UK to play its part in helping the world avoid a rise of more than 2C, we must reduce our carbon emissions by 80% by 2050.
"The household sector represents 27 per cent of our total emissions and achieving deep cuts here is an imperative."
Home Truths was commissioned by environmental charity Friends of the Earth and the Co-operative Bank.
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