Government climate change watchdog the Committee on Climate Change last week advised the Coalition against its 'dash for gas', which has brought debate about deeply controversial shale gas 'fracking' to the fore as a means of generating domestic energy. In a report published on Thursday, the CCC instead recommended bolstering support for renewables.

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In its report on the Electricity Market Reform, the Committee on Climate Change highlighted the "significant" economic and environmental benefits that could be gained from investing in low-carbon technologies over the next ten years, rather than pursuing gas-fired generation.

The CCC authors suggested this course of action could potentially save consumers £25-45 billion, rising to £100 billion, as prices of gas (a non-renewable resource and source of pollution) rise, along with other costs associated with fossil fuel use. In a convincing bid to galvanise support for its recommendations, CCC added, "Only if the world abandons attempts to limit risks of dangerous climate change would a strategy of investment in gas-fired generation through the 2020s offer significant savings."

The Committee urged the government to heed its conclusions and increase support for renewables financially and through policy measures.

Lord Deben, Chair of the Committee, recommended supporting investment in renewables into the 2020s, but "legislating to chart a clear course well beyond 2020, [to ensure the UK is] able to insure against the risk of much higher future energy prices; enhance Britain's energy sovereignty; and protect ourselves against dangerous climate change." He suggested this would reduce uncertainty which could potentially derail the government's attempts to reform the electricity market, outlined in its Energy Bill.

Deben refused to condemn the government's push for gas, and even partially backed shale gas extraction. Nevertheless, the CCC Chair concluded, "This Report shows that there are significant benefits and very limited risks from investing in low-carbon technologies."

Ministers in charge of developing government policy, including Chancellor George Osborne, have tended to favour cutting renewables subsidies, instead backing the 'dash for gas' in the form of fracking.

The Committee's recommendations were welcomed by the NFU, which said on Wednesday that it supports the CCC's ambitions to drive down the carbon intensity of power generation and sees a place for farmers in delivering aspects of the renewable energy portfolio recommended in Thursday's report.

The farm union suggested that anaerobic digestion could play a significant part in the expected increases in biomass power generation to produce around 10 percent of all UK electricity by the end of the decade (this would rely mostly on converted coal power stations, which would also require biomass feedstocks).

NFU added that solar power from small-scale, roof mounted installations or larger arrays would also play a significant part, and suggested CCC had underestimated this in its report; the union said upwards of 15 percent of 'clean' electricity could be generated this way by 2020, though CCC places the figure nearer 4 percent.   

Other recommendations made by the Committee on Climate Change include:

• In this Parliament, the government should set a target under the Energy Bill to reduce the carbon intensity of power generation from current levels of 500 gCO2/kWh to around 50 gCO2/kWh in 2030;
• Extend to 2030 funding allocated to support development of less mature technologies ("the Levy Control Framework")
• Set strategies for the further development of less mature technologies such as offshore wind and the commercialisation of carbon capture and storage (CCS)
• Present options to support mobilisation of new sources of finance, including roles for the Green Investment Bank and Infrastructure UK.
• Publish in the Electricity Market Reform delivery plan the amount of capacity that the Government intends to contract over the period 2014-18, and the prices that it intends to pay for onshore and offshore wind generation.