UK 'Green revolution' could create 400,000 jobs, claim ministers  

The Telegraph is reporting that the UK government will soon announce a large scale clean energy plan - 'Green revolution' could create 400,000 jobs, claim ministers. Whether or not this is just more hot air (and from a government unlikely to remain in power long) is open to question.

Detailed plans for expanding renewable energy tenfold and cutting emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses that heat up the planet – all in little more than a decade - will be announced. The plans will be spelt out in three documents due to be published in about ten days time.

Ed Miliband, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, will unveil a White Paper that will spell out how emissions will be cut by at least 34 per cent on 1990 levels by 2020 and a 'Renewable Energy Strategy' to increase its use to 15 per cent of Britain's total energy supplies by the same date.

Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, will launch a 'Low Carbon Industrial Strategy' which the Government hopes will create 400,000 new jobs in environmental industries over eight years and "transform our whole economy and change our industrial landscape, our supply chain and the way in which we all work and consume".

Publication of the plans will be followed by an Energy Bill, to be included in the next Queen's speech, to promote technology to remove carbon dioxide from the emissions of coal fired power stations; new ones will effectively be banned unless they use it.

Next Wednesday the Prince of Wales will lend strong support to the thinking behind the plans.

Delivering this year's Dimbleby lecture he will stress that environmental "sustainability" must be put at the heart of economic policy if the world is to recover fully from the recession and avoid dangerous climate change.

A massive increase in renewable energy – like solar, wind and tidal power - lies at the heart of the plans.

At present Britain gets little more than 1.5 per cent of its energy from it – the third lowest proportion of any European country – despite having the continent's most plentiful resources.

Most of the increase will come from multiplying the prppotion of Britain electrictyy generated from renewables sixfold, to 30 per cent, by 2020 - largely through a further massive expansion of windpower, especially offshore and in Scotland. And they are also hoping for a substantial contribution by tapping tidal power in the Severn Estuary.

The strategy will also disclose detailed plans for introducing "feed in tariffs" where householders and business who install renewable energy will be able to sell surplus electricity on favourable terms to the grid, a measure that has stimulated a rapid increase in the use of solar power in Germany and other countries.