Lib Dems outline plan for energy independence by 2050

The Liberal Democrats today set out ambitious plans to slash UK carbon emissions and attain energy independence by 2050 through a massive scaling up of renewable and carbon capture technologies.

Speaking on a visit to an offshore wind farm, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg called for an investment programme and display of political will similar to that which drove the US Apollo project to put a man on the moon.

Accusing the government of "dithering" over its energy policy, Clegg said that UK energy security had been undermined by over reliance on imports from unstable regions of the world – a fact he said was evidenced by the recent war between Russia and Georgia.

He argued that to improve energy security and deliver emission reductions far greater levels of investment in renewable energy was required. "Just as Britain invested in the North Sea in the 1970s to transform our energy prospects through oil production, we must today make a similar investment in renewable technologies to harness Britain’s vast renewable energy resources, combined with major reductions in energy consumption," he said.

To help deliver this investment the Liberal Democrats outlined a range of measures, including targets to ensure that by 2030 the UK only imports energy from the EU and by 2050 it is a net exporter of energy; new legislation requiring the energy companies to invest £500m a year in home insulation programmes; the introduction of a feed in tariff for microgeneration systems; new green mortgages to help people pay for carbon saving technologies; and a nationwide roll out of smart meters.

It also proposes a moratorium on both new nuclear power stations and coal-fired power plants that do not feature carbon capture and storage systems.

A Liberal Democrat spokesman said that government was guilty of scaremongering over its claims that a new fleet of nuclear and coal fired power stations are necessary to head off the risk of an energy gap. Citing recent research by energy consultancy Poyry, he insisted that the UK would not face an energy gap before 2020 if it attained its legally binding targets for increased renewables capacity, and could avoid a gap thereafter if it continued to expand capacity post 2020.

Central to the Lib Dem proposals are the formation of a new Renewables Delivery Authority, modelled to the Olympic Delivery Authority that is managing preparations for the London 2012 Olympics.

"A massive part of the problem [with the government's energy strategy] is that at the moment you have lots of different departments dealing with it, and that results in some of the splits we've seen between BERR and Defra," said the spokesman. "That's why the Olympic delivery model is so interesting, because you have BERR and the Department of Culture and Sport working together on the project under one Authority."

He added that to back up the new strategy, the Lib Dems are planning to crank up pressure on the government to strengthen the climate change bill as it continues its way through parliament this autumn. "We're looking for a strong climate bill with an 80 per cent carbon reduction target that includes aviation and shipping," he said. "We'll then be pushing for strong secondary legislation, such as a feed-in tariff and carbon emissions standards for energy generation."