There have been mixed views about this week’s announcement of ambitious carbon-reduction targets for the next four decades.

By 2050, the government has proposed a 60 percent carbon reduction, with a 26-32 percent reduction by 2020. The targets would be legally binding.

A new system of legally binding five year ‘carbon budgets’, set at least 15 years ahead, would be established, while a new statutory body, the Committee on Climate Change, would also be set up to provide advice to government on achieving its targets.

NFU climate change officer Jo Hughes said that the proposals create opportunities for farmers to become energy-producers. She suggested that biofuels, biogas and solar and wind power can all be harnessed by growers and farmers to input to the national grid. Germany, she pointed out, has a thriving market for biogas, with 2,500 growers presently deriving income from it. Yet, she points out, the policy infrastructure to replicate that does not yet exist in the UK.

The proposals announced pave the way towards a future where small business and householders sell their surplus energy back to the grid. Additionally, it seems that business will be constrained to trading for the right to emit carbon.

Hughes pointed out that the bill has made no mention of the other major greenhouse gasses produced by growers, like nitrous oxide and methane.

The HTA suggested it would like to see a further emphasis on growing plants as a means of carbon-offsetting, as well as the inclusion of home gardens within the government’s targets. The association is presently piloting an initiative to start measuring the ‘carbon footprints’ of growing various plants.

But some quarters have pointed-out that the bill puts Britain at a competitive disadvantage when compared to its European neighbours.

In a statement, the NFU warned against ‘inconsistency’. It has called for any emissions targets to be EU-wide to ensure British farming did not suffer as a result of extra regulation, and that farmers could only fully adapt to the challenges if there was consistency in Government policy.

The Conservatives agree with the government’s targets, but would replace the climate change levy presently proposed with a carbon levy based on emissions rather than on how much energy a company uses, a move it says will be revenue neutral but will offer businesses more encouragement to go green.

Predictably, Friends of the Earth, which has been seeking such reform for some time, welcomed the proposals. It’s director, Tony Juniper, said: “The UK will be the first country in the world to introduce a legal framework for reducing carbon emissions. But the draft Bill must be strengthened if the UK is to set a global example. It must include bigger cuts in carbon dioxide emissions and make all future governments accountable for their role in delivering these cuts.”