Archived press release

Friends of the Earth welcomes Conservative's energy policy

6 December 2007

Friends of the Earth warmly welcomes today's Conservative party announcement on the adoption of policies to support smaller scale renewable electricity generation. Their key recommendations include the introduction of a feed-in tariff: a duty on electricity companies to pay a guaranteed, long-term, premium price for electricity generated by renewable sources and exported to the National Grid.

The environmental campaigning group is calling on the UK Government to introduce feed-in tariffs to support domestic and small-scale renewable energy technologies such as solar panels in the forthcoming energy bill. The policy is already operating successfully in a number of European countries including Germany [2].

In its recent Home Truths report Friends of the Earth demonstrated how the UK could cut carbon emissions from households by 80% by 2050. One of its key recommendations is for every home to have some form of small scale renewable heat or electricity generation installed. It called for the UK Government to provide grants for householders to install renewable technologies, and the introduction of a feed-in tariff to support this.

Dave Timms, Economics Campaigner at Friends of the Earth said: "It's great to see the Conservatives joining a growing consensus recognising the transformation a feed-in tariff could bring to small scale renewable energy generation in the UK. This is a step towards creating an energy policy which tackles rather than contributes to climate change.

"Whilst an excellent policy, a feed-in tariff alone will not create a low carbon energy system. We need to see the Conservatives bring forward additional policies to set out a comprehensive vision of how we will power our economy in the future.

"If we are going to cut the UK's carbon emissions then a massive expansion of large and small scale renewable energy generation is vital. A feed in tariff would provide a guaranteed return for householders and businesses who invest in small scale renewable technologies."

The Conservative's energy policy announcement will translate one of the many excellent suggestions from its Quality of Life report [1] - released in September - into party policy.

The Government is currently in the process of drafting a UK energy bill following the publication of its energy white paper earlier this year. Friends of the Earth is campaigning for the inclusion of feed-in tariffs in the bill to reward households, businesses, landlords and communities that invest in renewable technologies, and provide a boost for the emerging low carbon industries which it believes will be vital to tackling climate change.

In addition, the UK Government has introduced a new overarching law to Parliament to cut Britain's contribution to climate change. This will be the first national legislation anywhere in the world to set legally-binding targets for cutting carbon dioxide emissions. Friends of the Earth, which has led the campaign for a climate change law, has welcomed the move but is calling on the Government to strengthen its proposals. The environmental campaign group says it must be strengthened to ensure a cut of at least 80 per cent in emissions by 2050, include pollution from Britain's share of international aviation and shipping, and set annual milestones to ensure that we stay on track. The bill could be law within six months.

Notes

[1] www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=news.story.page&obj_id=138484

[2] Since enacting a feed-in tariff in 2000, Germany now generates 12 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources and has 240,000 people employed in the renewable energy sector.

A study by the Energy Saving Trust for the DTI (now DBERR) suggested that 30-40% of the UK's total electricity could be provided by small scale renewable sources by 2050.

According to the Department for Communities and Local Government achieving even a 60% cut in carbon emissions from the UK's housing stock by 2050 will require a significant take-up of microgeneration technologies. Friends of the Earth are calling for an 80% cut.

The Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs select committee of MPs recently called for a feed-in tariff to be introduced to encourage the take-up of microgeneration technologies as part of a `Citizens Agenda' on climate change and the Government's own energy regulator, Ofgem, has specifically asked the government to look at how a feed-in tariff could work in the UK context. The House of Commons Trade and Industry Select Committee in its report on local energy identified that "depending on its level, a feed-in tariff could be used to encourage the development of local energy."

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust