The UK could see a trade balance benefit of up to £12.6 billion per year by 2020 if it pursues its plans for energy efficiency and renewables, according to a new report from the Renewable Energy Association (REA).

The REA commissioned the report from Delta-EE following the release of a similar study conducted by the German Government in 2007. That study found that German industry and households could generate a net savings of €5 billion by 2020 as the nation’s fossil fuel imports declined.

The UK, which had never previously conducted such a study, is on track to experience serious energy “crunches” by 2020 if it doesn’t reduce its reliance on imported gas, the REA says. That reliance comes with “huge cost and energy security implications.”

Without a rapid transition to low-carbon energy, the next economic crisis would be “pre-programmed,” Lord Stern, author of the landmark 2006 economic analysis of climate change, told the G20 earlier this year.

“We hear a lot about the cost of renewables, and not enough about the upsides,” said Philip Wolfe, director general of the REA. “This report shows how investment in sustainable energy leads to huge and increasing savings for the UK economy through avoided fossil fuel imports. Politicians say we cannot afford not to go green — this report helps spell out why. On top of the employment and export benefits, the energy balance of payments is yet another reason why investment in renewables is essential for the economy, as well as for the planet.”

Tags: renewables