U.K. ‘Green Deal’ on Insulation Will Double Jobs, Minister Says

The U.K. government’s so-called Green Deal to insulate every home will double jobs in energy efficiency by 2015, Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said.

The government is introducing new measures to cut “prohibitive barriers to market entry” for small businesses and setting up an advisory service from April 2 for consumers to learn about renewable energy and energy efficiency incentives, Barker said today at the Ecobuild conference in London.

The Green Deal, the centerpiece of the government’s energy legislation, lays out incentives to insulate the nation’s 26 million homes as Britain strives to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 34 percent from 1990 levels in 2020.

“The green deal will put energy efficiency at the heart of government policy, bringing it into the mainstream,” Barker said. “It is as much about economic growth as about narrow climate change policy.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Marc Roca in London at mroca6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net