Building up the pressure

We have to revolutionise the way we power the UK. That way we can tackle the twin challenges of:

Climate change.
Spiralling fuel bills.

Tapping into the vast renewable energy potential of the sun, wind, tides and waves will:

Help keep global temperatures in check.
Provide a secure and lasting energy supply.
Generate jobs and business.

Time to act

We can radically transform our energy networks to achieve a low carbon future. But this requires bold political decisions.

The Government needs to launch a huge and ambitious Apollo-style energy programme. It must make renewables the number one source of energy in the UK.

Did you know?
Only eight years after its announcement the Apollo programme succeeded in getting a man to the moon.

Wikipedia

In June 2009 the Government will publish a Renewable Energy Strategy. As a first step to delivering an energy revolution it is critical that this strategy does two important things.

Stick to its promises
Deliver at least 15% of UK energy from renewables by 2020.
Rig the system
Restructure the energy industry to prioritise renewable energy sources.

Join the energy revolution today

Climate change is a problem we all must tackle together. The Government needs to know that people all over the country want them to act.

Please ask your MP to support a strong and sustainable Renewable Energy Strategy.

It's a three step process:

Find your local MP
Choose a contact method
Send a letter by email, fax or print out to post*

Step 1 of 3: Find your local MP

Type your postcode in the box below and press Go:

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Renewable energy - from the wind, waves, tides and sun - is the future. Building a thriving renewable energy industry in the UK will help us avoid disastrous climate change, generate hundreds of thousands of jobs, billions of pounds worth of business and a secure and long lasting energy supply for the UK.

The Government needs to launch an Apollo-style programme to make renewables the number one source of energy in the UK. Please write to the Prime Minister and ask him kick start this energy revolution by ensuring the Renewable Energy Strategy, due to be published in June, commits to:

- Delivering at least 15 per cent of our energy from UK renewables by 2020. The UK has some of the best renewables resources in Europe, but despite this lags at the bottom of the European league table for generating renewable energy.  Addressing some key areas could have huge benefits for the UK.

A global shortage of wind turbines and components is keeping prices high for windfarms on and offshore.  Our ambitious targets for offshore wind are also threatened by a lack of specialised installation ships to build windfarms at sea, and availability of subsea cables.  We should establish skills and manufacturing capacity in the UK to address these shortages and boost UK jobs and the economy.

Emerging technologies need financial support and greater investment in research and development  to bring them to market.  We're currently a global leader in wave and tidal power, but risk losing out if we don't back these technologies. Thanks to strong support measures, Germany has installed 10 times more windpower, and 200 times more solar than the UK.  We must ensure that small and community scale generation is adequately incentivised.

- Making sure the energy regulator's main job is to cut climate change emissions by prioritising renewables and energy efficiency.

Renewable electricity generation needs to be connected quickly and cheaply to our electricity networks, but there's currently a huge queue of generators waiting for connection.  Our electricity networks will need to be restructured and operate much more flexibly to accommodate a large amount of smaller, variable generation.  Offshore we'll require a vast new network of cables to connect up huge windfarms off our coasts, and to strengthen the UK electricity grid by linking up with neighbouring countries. We should also be incentivising combined heat and power plants, and the development of heat grids, instead of building more inefficient coal and gas plants.

All of these changes require a coordinated and strategic approach to replacing our ageing networks, and need to start happening now. The energy regulator's current role is to reduce short term costs, and is preventing forward investment in long-term solutions.  This must change.

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