UK Tories plan 'energy revolution'  

The BBC reports that the conservative opposition in Britain are muttering about revolution - a clean energy revolution - Tories plan 'energy revolution'. Neither Labour or the Liberal Democrats are impressed but it sounds good on paper (though I imagine if they got in they'll flip-flop and just build nukes to keep things centralised and dirty, in the traditional way).

Street plug-points for electric cars, smart meters, and energy efficiency loans for homes are among Tory plans for an "energy revolution".

David Cameron launched plans he said would lower carbon emissions, create jobs and reduce oil and gas imports. He said a £1bn upgrade for the national grid would encourage people to generate their own power and boost renewables.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband dismissed the plans as "a bad combination of the reheated and the uncosted".

Launching what the party calls its green paper on low carbon, Mr Cameron said even those who were not convinced by climate change had to recognise the need for "energy security" - reducing reliance on countries like Russia and the Middle East for oil and gas. And he said there was no reason why, if electricity networks were updated to include computer intelligence, people should not be saving money in future.

This would include a "smart grid" and smart meters in homes - which monitor kitchen appliances every second, altering the amount of power that is sent down the line to ensure only the minimum necessary is used.

Mr Cameron said it would make it possible to have "the Holy Trinity of big supplies of secure energy, green low-carbon energy and cheap energy", by removing the requirement for the grid to have huge excess capacity in order to meet fluctuating demand.

The Conservatives say it would also pave the way for large-scale use of renewable energy sources, by introducing "feed in tariffs" - paid by power companies to people who generate power via wind turbines and solar panels.

They would also make more use of technologies like tidal power and biogas - creating power out of the waste vegetable matter from farms or households. They say they would introduce a new "national recharging network" to encourage the use of electric cars and hybrid cars. ...

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats said the Tories could not be trusted to "deliver" in the battle against limate change. Leader Nick Clegg said: "This announcement is like David Cameron riding his bike, but what is important is what is in the car behind him.

"In there we find a Conservative Party that despite all its rhetoric will dodge a vote on Heathrow's third runway; that supports future nuclear power plants; and that's so anti-Europe it fails to understand that the only way to fight climate change is to work together internationally.

"The Tories like to posture on climate change when the cameras are pointed their way, but they simply cannot be trusted to deliver."