Environmental News: Call for Government to invest in green technology to boost economy
The Environment Agency Chairman, Lord Chris Smith, urged the Government to launch a ‘Green New Deal’ for the UK economy to drive investment in clean energy and create jobs.
He called on the Government to produce a comprehensive long-term strategy for investing in renewable energy, environmental technology, energy efficiency and carbon capture and storage. He urged the Chancellor to invest in green capital projects and schemes to mitigate the recession and climate change.
Lord Chris Smith outlined the key elements of delivering a ‘Green New Deal’ programme. They include:
• Development of Carbon Capture and Storage for coal-fired power stations - initially in demonstration projects, but thereafter on a wider scale
• More incentives for energy efficiency in homes and businesses
• Greater use of combined heat and power
• Removal of disincentives from development of anaerobic digestion and other sustainable biomass projects
• Feed-in tariffs and grants to help householders to develop sustainable energy
• A major national programme for power generation through wind, solar and tidal sources
• Continuing development of work (especially on rivers and coasts) to protect from, and adapt to, the impact of climate change
Lord Chris Smith said:
"We need a Green New Deal to meet our carbon emissions targets and create jobs in renewable energy and green technology. We need an ambitious and coherent strategy for the future, which is matched by investment by Government to kick-start key projects.
"We are facing a recession and there will be pressure to weaken environmental targets. I hope the Government will hold its nerve and deliver a far-reaching programme that looks further than the current crisis to deliver on our 2050 targets."
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