Green energy revolution mooted by Brown
Firm regional targets for new wind power schemes are in prospect now ministers have signalled proposals for a ten-fold increase in renewable energy deployment in the UK.
This could see an extra 4,000 onshore and 3,000 offshore wind turbines built by 2020, according to the Government.
Prime minister Gordon Brown has insisted the UK should become a leader in renewable energy and said the Government’s plans represented the "most dramatic change on our energy policy since the advent of nuclear power".
He stressed: "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. And yes, there will have to be more wind farms onshore too."
Brown's comments came as the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform published a consultation document setting out how it plans to meet its share of the European Union target that some 20 per cent of energy consumed by the bloc should come from green energy sources by 2020.
As well as many more wind farms the strategy has proposed a major drive on energy efficiency and the development of a feed-in tariff to help boost microgeneration technologies.
The document has argued that the strategy could help security of supply and reduce gas imports. A final version of the strategy is expected next spring.
The report argues the case for more energy from waste schemes and a much bigger emphasis on renewable heat.
Ministers say the measures outlined in the report could achieve carbon savings of around 20 million tonnes of C02.
The document says it would make sense to have a clear deployment strategy at regional level for renewables similar to the approach adopted for housing provision.
Roger Milne
26 June 2008
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