Sunak’s UK oil subsidy could have insulated 2m homes, says thinktank

The billions now going to fossil fuel exploitation could have funded efficiency measures that cut energy bills for good

Billions of pounds given away in a tax break for UK oil and gas exploitation could have permanently cut the energy bills of 2m homes by 342 a year if invested in insulation measures, according to a green thinktank.

Rishi Sunak announced the 91% tax break alongside a windfall tax on the huge profits of oil and gas companies last week. The E3G thinktank calculated that the tax break would hand between 2.5bn and 5.7bn back to the oil companies over three years, while an energy efficiency programme of 3bn over the same period would upgrade 2.1m homes making them less reliant on gas.