UK political parties support renewables in election

LONDON, England, April 27, 2005 (Refocus Weekly)

Most political parties in the UK are supporting renewable energies in the general election called for May 5.

The manifesto of the governing Labour Party calls for promotion of renewables "as part of a strategy of having a mix of energy sources from nuclear power stations to clean coal to micro-generators,” says the Parliamentary Renewable & Sustainable Energy Group (PRASEG) in a summary of the various policies. It will promote biomass and biofuels and continue to promote and develop renewable energy sources.

The analysis also examines the position of each party on energy efficiency, climate change and other issues related to sustainable energy.

Labour will introduce a Marine Act that will introduce a framework for the seas that balances energy, conservation and resource needs, and will support new green technologies and industries which fight climate change. It will seek high standards of energy efficiency in both public and private sectors, and all new homes which receive government funding must meet new standards starting next April.

Climate change will be the centre of Britain’s energy policy under Labour, which will use Britain’s international influence to lead on tackling climate change and to reduce GHG emissions by 20% reduction by 2010 and 60% by 2050.

The Conservative Party will support a range of renewables and will promote energy efficiency, while the Liberal Democrat Party will meet the goal of 20% from renewables by 2020 "by increasing and reforming the obligation on energy suppliers” to use renewables, and it would encourage use of alternative energy sources, such as hydrogen fuels, as technology develops.

It would reform the country’s planning system to incorporate targets for CO2 emission reductions to encourage development of renewables, and would change the Climate Change Levy into a carbon tax to discourage the use of “polluting fuels and energy sources that harm the environment.” It would not build new nuclear reactors and would include renewables as a priority target in international development assistance.

The Green Party would increase the share from renewables to 40% by 2020, and would fund the initiative by diverting subsidies and research support from nuclear and through the introduction of eco-taxes. It would set a target of 2 million m2 of solar PV and 2 million small-scale wind systems by 2010, and would continue development of onshore wind and offshore wind and wave systems. On climate change, it would commit to a 20% reduction in CO2 by 2010, 50% by 2020, 85% by 2030 and a 90% reduction by 2050.

The Plaid Cymru in Wales would support a range of renewables from solar, tide, wind, hydro, energy crops and alternative fuels such as hydrogen, and would be sensitive to the siting of renewable energy facilities but would focus on becoming less dependent on coal and oil. It would use the planning power of government to require new buildings to incorporate mini-roof wind turbines, solar panels or other “appropriate renewables.” It would support energy efficiency and encourage green taxes, and give the National Assembly in Wales the responsibility of energy policy and renewable energy resource programs.

The analysis had no information on the election manifesto of the Socialist Party, Democratic Unionist, Scottish National Party Environment, Social Democratic & Labour Party, Ulster Unionists or Scottish Socialist Party.

PRASEG is the cross-party group for politicians in Britain that promotes sustainable energy issues in Parliament. It holds regular events in Westminster to discuss policy barriers to the development of the market for renewables, energy efficiency and combined heat and power, and has 100 members from Parliament and 250 from industry including British Wind Energy Association, Carbon Trust, Combined Heat & Power Association, npower renewables, RWE npower and WWF.

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