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Minister says UK needs renewable power

Posted: 28/05/2008

Environmentalists have accused the government of hypocrisy after Business Secretary John Hutton said that the UK should follow California's lead by investing in renewable power in response to high energy prices. He also said that the only effective way to insulate oil consuming countries from future price increases was energy efficiency and substitution.

Speaking at the British Antarctic Survey Hutton said that "California "blazed a trail" of diversity and innovation by investing heavily in exploiting its natural resources and was today a world leader in renewable such as solar and wind power".

Friends of the Earth pointed out that while Hutton espoused serious investment in renewables, existing government policies on renewable energy, fuel poverty and energy efficiency are either insufficient or seem aimed at derailing progress in this area.

Friends of the Earth's Head of Campaigns, Mike Childs, said:
"John Hutton is right - we must end our addiction to oil. A huge programme of action is needed to stop energy waste and dramatically boost our use of green power".

"But Government action to date has been woeful. Ministers have rejected calls to help households and businesses generate their own renewable power, cut energy efficiency grants for the poorest households and even tried to undermine the EU renewable energy target. If we can become a genuine world leader in developing a low-carbon economy, the economic and employment benefits could be huge. This mustn't be just another green speech. We need less hot air and more action."

Friends of the Earth has criticised a number of Government policies on climate change, including:

Refusing to amend the Energy Bill to require energy companies to give long-term contracts guaranteeing a premium price for renewable energy generated by households and businesses, helping them to produce their own green energy. The scheme, known as a feed-in tariff, would make renewable technologies significantly more cost effective to install. Feed-in tariffs have been especially successful in Germany, which now has 200 times more solar power and more than 10 times more wind power installed than the UK.

Lobbying to weaken the Renewables Directive. The UK is trying to weaken proposed EU laws on sourcing 20 per cent of EU power from renewable sources by 2020, for example by proposing that other technologies be counted towards the target. The EU must stand firm and introduce a strong Renewables Directive by the end of the year.

Friends of the Earth and Help the Aged are taking the Government to court for not doing enough to meet its legal obligation to eradicate fuel poverty. The two charities are campaigning for the Government to develop a far more effective and comprehensive programme of domestic energy efficiency, to end suffering from fuel poverty and tackle climate change.

Not including Britain's share of international aviation emissions in its Climate Change Bill.

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