Press release

Climate Change Committee publishes renewable energy report

9 May 2011

The Committee on Climate Change published its review of renewable energy today (Monday 9 May 2011), concluding that renewable energy should make a major contribution to decarbonising the UK economy - and Friends of the Earth renewed its call on the Government to urgently provide the regulatory clarity needed to unlock a step change in investment in green energy.

The Committee on Climate Change review says there is huge potential for fuelling the UK on renewable sources of energy - up to 45 per cent of our needs by 2030, (compared with a mere three per cent today) and up to 65 per cent of our electricity needs. It also finds a role for nuclear power and carbon capture and storage.

Friends of the Earth's Director of Policy and Campaigns Craig Bennett said:

"It's great that the Committee on Climate Change has recognised the huge role renewable energy could and should be playing in taking Britain towards a clean, prosperous future - and is right to call for a dramatic increase in investment to make this happen.

"But it is wrong to say we should slow down investment in offshore wind because it's not as cost effective as nuclear - the cost of renewable energy will fall the more we invest in it.  

"Nuclear power can't be part of the answer - our analysis shows it will divert vital money and effort away from developing renewable energy and the jobs and industries it could bring to the UK.

"We've had 50 years of successive governments pandering to the nuclear lobby. If their promises of cheap, low carbon energy were true, they would have been delivered by now.

"There's no need for nuclear power if we also invest in energy saving measures and green technology to reduce energy demand - which will also slash household energy bills in the long term.

"The Government must aim to decarbonise the grid by 2030 and allow the Green Bank to borrow money straight away to help ensure big offshore energy projects get off the ground fast."

ENDS

Notes to editors

 1.   The Committee on Climate Change advises that the 2020 renewable energy target should not be increased, but that policy should focus on ensuring the challenging target was met, i.e. with large-scale investment in renewable energy over the next 10 years supported by incentives. In the longer term it advises that as much as 45 per cent of our energy over all could come from renewable sources by 2030, and 65 per cent of our electricity.

 2.   The Committee says that the effect of climate change policies on household energy bills is that they will fall long term once energy efficiency measures have been taken into account. See table 5.1, p158.

3.   The Committee recognises that the problem of intermittency isn't the obstacle to developing green power - the real problem is a lack of political will. It says "even for renewable [electricity generation] shares up to 65% in 2030 and 80% in 2050, the cost is only up to 1 p/kWh of additional intermittent generation" (p17).

4.   The Committee says that by 2020 nuclear will be as cheap as gas generation. Friends of the Earth says that if this is the case, the Government should explicitly rule out nuclear power receiving a feed-in-tariff under Electricity Market Reform proposals or financial support via the Green Investment Bank.

5.   Friends of the Earth argues that nuclear is a mature technology which receives colossal state support for its decommissioning and other (rising) costs. It is also constantly being delayed. The green campaigning charity says that the Committee's review puts extremely low value on the future costs of nuclear power, so decommissioning and dealing with nuclear waste count for almost nothing in its calculations.

6.   A recent poll by Friends of the Earth found that more a third of Brits are now more likely to oppose nuclear power following recent events in Japan, and that more than 75 per cent want renewable energy and energy efficiency to be given top priority.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust