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Green energy plans to be outlined Brown pushes wind power expansion
(about 6 hours later)
Proposals on renewable energy aimed at meeting EU climate change targets and securing the UK's future supply are to be unveiled by the government later. Thousands of new wind turbines could be built across the UK over the coming decade as part of a £100bn plan to boost renewable energy.
More wind turbines and solar panels are expected to be signalled as ministers aim for 15% renewable power by 2020. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the UK should be a leader in renewable energy.
Less than 5% of Britain's electricity currently comes from green sources. But he warned it would not come from "business as usual" and he called for a national debate on achieving the UK's target of 15% renewable energy by 2020.
Environmental groups have hailed the strategy but say past promises have not been met and some industry groups have expressed caution over its timetable. The Tories have already unveiled plans to boost renewable energy. The Lib Dems say Labour fails to deliver on pledges.
Philip Wolfe, director of the Renewable Energy Association, said: "The key missing factor is a greater sense of urgency. In a speech earlier, Mr Brown said the government's plans represented the "most dramatic change in our energy policy since the advent of nuclear power".
"We have only 12 years left and government still wants to use two of those talking about it. The industry has a very short space of time in which to meet challenging targets. Increasing our renewable energy sources in these ways, on this scale, will require national purpose and a shared national endeavour Prime Minister Gordon Brown
"There are still gaps and anomalies that need to be addressed with fresh polices." "The North Sea has now passed its peak of oil and gas supply - but it will now embark on a new transformation into the global centre of the offshore wind industry.
Meanwhile, a recent report from the Centre for Policy Studies suggested the wind power the plans would rely on is unreliable, intermittent and twice as expensive as coal or nuclear. "And yes, there will have to be more windfarms onshore too."
Ministers are expected to call for 4,000 more wind turbines onshore and 3,000 more to be built at sea by 2020. 'Inevitable' changes
BBC environment correspondent Sarah Mukherjee said the Britain suggested by the strategy "would buzz with millions of hybrid electric cars and would be shaded by thousands of acres of trees grown to replace coal and oil as a source of energy". Under the government's plans an extra 4,000 onshore and 3,000 offshore turbines will be needed, impacting on communities, business and the government.
The measures are also expected to include grants for firms to increase green energy, plans for projects to be connected more quickly to the National Grid and compulsory measures on households. Ministers say visible changes to landscapes, towns and cities are "inevitable" but in his speech Mr Brown promised local communities wind turbines would be sited in the "right" locations.
But no major increase in government funding is expected and investment by power firms could be passed on to consumers through higher bills in the next decade. When the government has failed so lamentably to take a political lead in the last 11 years, why should we believe the coming years will be any different? Steve WebbLib Dem environment
"Increasing our renewable energy sources in these ways, on this scale, will require national purpose and a shared national endeavour.
"So today I want to launch a serious national debate about how we are to achieve our targets."
He promised up to 160,000 new jobs through promoting more renewable energy, including making components for wind turbines and electric cabling.
'New social organisation'
But he said a low carbon economy - which met EU reduction targets - "will not emerge from 'business as usual'."
"It will require real leadership from government - being prepared to make hard decisions on planning or on tax for example, rather tacking and changing according to the polls.
"It will involve new forms of economic activity and social organisation."
Up to half of the government's carbon reduction target will have to come from electricity, meaning a third will have to be generated from renewables by 2020.
Moves to speed up the connection of renewable energy projects to the national grid are also expected to be announced to help clear a huge backlog of proposed developments.
The UK could cut its greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 20% and reduce its dependency on oil by 7% within 12 years, the government says.
'Fundamental problem'
Household bills are expected to increase as a result of the measures, but any impact is unlikely to be felt until later in the next decade.
Greenpeace hailed the new strategy as "visionary", but the environment group warned that ministers had promised much before and had so far failed to deliver.
But the Liberal Democrats poured scorn on Mr Brown's talk of a "green revolution"
The party's environment spokesman Steve Webb said: "The fundamental problem is that Brown doesn't do 'green'.
"He would rather urge oil producers to extract more oil than invest in technologies that will actually save CO2 emissions now.
"When the government has failed so lamentably to take a political lead in the last 11 years, why should we believe the coming years will be any different?"
Conservative leader David Cameron last week pledged to continue to pursue his "green agenda", saying that over-reliance on oil and gas was "bad for our national security".
"For the sake of our future prosperity and our current cost of living, we must wean ourselves off fossil fuels and go green."
Mr Cameron said all new coal-fired power stations should have to include measures to trap CO2 emissions and said a Tory government would make researching tidal power in Britain a priority.
He also promised to improve energy efficiency in the home, to encourage "micro-renewables" like homeowners' wind turbines and solar panels by paying them a guaranteed price for energy they create.