Brown launches 'green revolution' energy plan

Britain set out plans on Thursday for a tenfold increase in renewable energy within 12 years in a scheme welcomed for its ambition but criticised for lacking concrete policies to cut carbon emissions and reduce dependency on fossil fuels.

The government's proposals for meeting its 2020 target of getting 15 percent of energy from renewables foresees a third of electricity coming from renewables, 100 billion pounds of investment and bigger utility bills to help pay for it.

"This is a green revolution in the making. It is the most dramatic change in our energy policy since the advent of nuclear power," Prime Minister Gordon Brown said at the launch in London's Tate Modern, a coal-fired power station turned art gallery. "I'm absolutely certain that this is the right course for this country."

The proposals include increasing support and removing planning obstacles for clean energy projects to get 4,000 more wind turbines erected onshore and 3,000 more at sea by 2020, while increasing help for renewable heat and microgeneration.

The government warned that the extra cost of turning Britain into low-carbon economy meant even higher energy costs for consumers, which could be partially offset by greater energy efficiency,

Britain's biggest energy supplier Centrica said the plan would be costly for householders already facing rising fuel costs but argued that it was worthwhile.

"The investment needed - 100 billion pounds on the government's own estimate which equates to around 1,600 pounds for every man, woman and child in the UK over the next decade - is worthwhile when compared to the consequences of doing nothing," Gearoid Lane, managing director of British Gas New Energy said.

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The strategy was widely but cautiously welcomed by industry observers and environmentalists encouraged by the government's broader approach but worried that another consultation was wasting time.

"While the government should be applauded for taking a more holistic view on all forms of renewable energy, another period of policy review and consultation cannot be so warmly welcomed," Ben Warren, a clean energy director at Ernst & Young said.

"The time for talking is surely over - as we get ever nearer to 2020 some tough decisions need to be made."

Britain's Renewable Energy Association criticised the government for talking too much and doing too little, while engineering representatives warned it had underestimated the problems with building so many wind farms so quickly.

Britain gets only about 5 percent of its electricity from renewables, largely because planning and grid connection problems have stunted the growth of the industry, but turbine manufacturers are already struggling to meet rapidly growing global demand.

The government wants the nationwide expansion of renewable energy to be complimented by new nuclear power stations and "clean coal" power plants which could bury the harmful carbon emissions from them.

Environment campaign group Friends of the Earth said it was "good news that the government is now waking up to the huge untapped potential for clean energy" and that if it could back the plans with concrete policy changes coal-fired power stations should not be needed.

UK energy network operator National Grid said the 2020 target could be achieved, if backed by the whole industry and supported by reforms set out in the Planning Bill - which faces a vote in the Lords after getting through the Commons on Wednesday - and a new offshore regulatory framework.

The government hopes some 160,000 jobs could be created in the renewables sector, with 100,000 more potential jobs for building and operating the new nuclear power stations that it wants private companies to build.