Queen goes green - but what about community solar?6 January 2012
The Queen has gone green with a hydroelectric project installed in the River Thames. This will power Windsor Castle and 300 local homes.
Friends of the Earth welcomes the royal switch to clean, locally-produced energy. But we're concerned that many ordinary families will miss their own chance to cut their fuel bills and carbon footprint.
On 31 October the Government announced a 50% reduction in payments to households and communities generating electricity through solar power.
Friends of the Earth is calling on the Government to:
- Put solar back on its feet
Reducing tariff rates in a planned way from February 2012 to protect jobs. - Increase the budget for solar
Allowing more people - including householders and disadvantaged communities - to benefit from the technology.
Friends of the Earth's Head of Campaigns Andrew Pendleton said:
The Government must expand the scheme - with all the tax revenue the scheme generates, this can be done at no extra cost to bill payers.
Ministers should end business uncertainty and protect jobs with a clear plan to reduce payments from February - in line with falling installation costs.
The feed-in tariff has led to more than 100,000 solar panel projects and around 27,000 new jobs since its introduction in April 2010.
What you can do
Join Friends of the Earth's Final Demand campaign, which calls for clean energy we can all afford.
We're asking David Cameron for a public inquiry into the Big Six energy companies who keep us hooked on dirty and expensive fossil fuels.
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