Millions of household are facing soaring energy bills as the cost of living crisis shows no sign of abating.

While some of the causes are beyond the control of households or government, some analysts are pointing to climate policies that could help.

Here, Sky News examines some of the big questions surrounding the cost of living crisis – and consider whether going green could provide any of the solutions.

Why are energy bills so high?

Global demand and geopolitics – in particular, Russia restricting supply – are driving soaring gas prices.

Part of the increase on our fuel bills – about £50 – will also cover the cost of gas suppliers that have failed.

Another part stems from the knock-on impact on electricity bills, because at the moment gas plants set the prices.

When will energy bills go down?

Demand is not set to drop any time soon, so unfortunately bills are unlikely to fall until gas supply capacity constraints relax and the Russia-Ukraine crisis de-escalates, explains Dan Quiggin from Chatham House.

However, warmer weather in spring should reduce demand somewhat.

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What’s up with energy efficiency?

Low insulation rates – which have actually worsened since 2012 – leave homes leaking more energy and therefore consumers paying more for energy.

And the “lack of diversity of heating options for domestic home and poor insulation has continued to be politically challenging and logistically difficult”, said Antony Froggatt from Chatham House.

Improving the energy efficiency would reduce bills, our vulnerability to international fossil fuel markets and other states, and the climate-heating emissions leaking from our homes.

Why haven’t renewables saved us? Could they?

The main renewables – solar and wind – don’t produce heat, leaving UK households highly dependent on gas boilers, with knock-on consequences for electricity prices due to continued reliance on gas power generation.

But renewables are helping to limit price rises for electricity, because they reduce the amount of gas needed for electricity generation.

More renewable power would help further still. But UK solar generation has slightly dropped (-3.5%) since 2019, according to new analysis this week from Ember, and solar power generated 3.8% of UK electricity in 2021 – far less than Germany (9.1%) or the Netherlands (9.5%).

The government aims to decarbonise the power sector by 2035, with new offshore wind farms coming online, which would insulate the market from higher global gas prices.

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Should we be fracking for gas or increasing North Sea production?

Spiralling gas prices and reliance on imports from Russia has prompted some call from some for Britain to consider fracking for gas or increase production from the North Sea.

Aside from committing the country into gas for longer, which we aim soon to ditch, using more gas would also increase the carbon-heating pollution just as we are trying to cut it to tackle the climate crisis.

Increasing domestic gas production also wouldn’t “shield consumers from high gas prices”, says Caterina Brandmayr, head of climate policy at Green Alliance.

North Sea oil and gas companies will simply sell to the highest bidder on global markets, and the amount of gas available in the North Sea is too little to affect international gas prices anyway, she explains.

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What would help lower energy bills?

In the short term, the government’s £350 rebate scheme provides some financial relief.

But that’s “little more than a sticking plaster on the open wound left by the UK’s gas dependency”, according to Sepi Golzari-Munro from think tank ECIU.

High global gas prices are expected to persist for another few years at least, and some argue that the UK has been slow to adopt energy efficiency measures that would help protect them from increased heating costs.

Green groups are calling for the government to double down on cheap renewables and focus on upgrading our leaky homes by improving insulation, so less energy is wasted or installing heat pumps that source heat from the air.

From April, you can apply for £5,000 grants towards heat pumps via the government’s Boiler Upgrades Scheme.

Labour and others have called for a windfall tax on oil and gas companies, who are profiting from soaring gas prices, which could fund home insulation schemes. But the government said the idea “doesn’t add up” because it would tax oil and gas companies that are “already struggling”.

Paul Massara, Ex-CEO NPower said: “The longer term solution for energy bills, climate change and the geopolitical risks from Russia, is greater investments in energy efficiency programs.”

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Will green measures cost more?

Some blame climate policy for the cost-of-living crisis, particularly soaring energy bills.

The New Zero Scrutiny Group of around 18 Conservative MPs wants the government to scrap green levies on energy bills and increase the amount of gas extracted from the North Sea.

But levies on bills to support renewables and insulation are small compared to gas costs, says analysis by ECIU. It suggests that bill increases could be partially offset by a government loan to energy suppliers.

It says as climate goals become more ambitious, and are reflected in the price of carbon, fossil fuels costs will continue to rise because of their high emissions.

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Dr Simon Cran-McGreehin from ECIU said: “Using renewable electricity and insulation as part of the net-zero transition are the quickest ways to reduce our reliance on costly fossil fuels traded on volatile international markets.

“Investments for insulating homes provide built-in savings and rapid payback under high gas prices, and are particularly important in areas in most need of levelling-up with the worst quality housing and the lowest incomes.”

Watch the Daily Climate Show at 8.30pm Monday to Friday on Sky News, the Sky News website and app, on YouTube and Twitter.

The show investigates how global warming is changing our landscape and highlights solutions to the crisis.

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