PLANS for a massive expansion of windpower and renewable energies could create 160,000 jobs – but leave consumers facing rises in fuel bills.
A tenfold increase in renewable energy generation by 2020 could see an extra 4,000 onshore and 3,000 offshore wind turbines and a tidal barrage in the River Severn, while more homes and businesses could generate their own energy in what Prime Minister Gordon Brown hailed as a ‘green revolution’. But the Pounds 100bn investment programme – mostly to be funded privately – could add more than Pounds 200 to the average gas bill by 2020. Business Secretary John Hutton said the increases of up to 13 per cent in domestic electricity bills and 37 per cent in gas bills were ‘reasonable and modest’ while the cost of doing nothing to cut greenhouse gas emissions would be high, costing the economy billions.
The plans are outlined in a consultation paper published yesterday by Prime Minister and Mr Hutton into how Britain can meet European Union targets to produce 15 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. Mr Brown admitted the target was ‘challenging’ but said 160,000 new jobs could be created in the renewable energy sector by 2020 as he heralded the creation of a new ‘green collar’ worker. Thousands of jobs could be created in Yorkshire, with offshore wind farms likely in the North Sea, as Mr Brown said Britain’s coastal waters could become the ‘equivalent for windpower of what the Gulf of Arabia is for the oil industry’.
There will also be a drive for energy efficiency, every householder being encouraged to fit loft or cavity wall insulation, install low energy light bulbs and use low energy goods within a decade. Extra grants will be available for people making their home greener.
‘This is a green revolution in the making,’ said Mr Brown. ‘It is the most drastic change in energy policy since the advent of nuclear power.’
But Mr Hutton warned there would be costs for consumers. By 2020 customers may see higher bills of up to Pounds 53 in electricity and Pounds 209 in gas above what they might otherwise pay because of the changes to green energy, although rising oil prices and energy efficiency measures would reduce any rise.
‘Such rapid action will not come without some associated cost,’ Mr Hutton said. ‘The extent of these rises will depend on the cost of alternatives particularly fossil fuels, and we can limit their effect, both on energy bills and fuel poverty by promoting an essential ongoing role for energy efficiency.’
Yorkshire Forward’s sustainable development manager Stephen Brown said the ideas in the consultation were a ‘real opportunity’ for the region, particularly using biomass to generate energy. Friends of the Earth energy campaigner Robin Webster said: ‘The Government is asking all the right questions about how to kick start a renewable energy revolution – but there are worrying gaps in their plans to deliver it.
‘We are calling on Ministers to end attempts to wriggle out of European green energy targets and get on with leading Britain to a cleaner, greener and more prosperous future.’
CBI deputy director-general John Cridland said: ‘Business has long supported pragmatic and cost-effective solutions to meeting our carbon targets, but the EU renewables target is neither of these things. The target is likely to cost the UK an additional Pounds 6bn a year, much of which will fall on businesses and households.’
Tory Shadow Business Secretary Alan Duncan challenged Mr Brown to translate words into action.
(c) 2008 Yorkshire Post. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.