UK should be self-sufficient in energy by 2050, says Lib Dem leader

Nick Clegg says Britain needs 'Apollo project' on par with effort to put man on moon
Andrew Sparrow and agencies
guardian.co.uk,
Thursday August 21 2008 11:59 BST

An oil rig in the North Sea. Photograph: AP
Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, today called for Britain to become self-sufficient in energy by 2050 without building new coal-fired or nuclear power stations.
He said that the country needed an "Apollo project", on a par with the effort the US invested in putting a man on the moon in the 1960s, to ensure a massive increase in the use of renewable energy.
As part of his vision, Clegg called for huge improvements in the energy efficiency of housing and a greater commitment to renewable generation.
He accused the government of scaremongering about a possible energy gap to gain backing for a new generation of nuclear power plants.
Clegg said that a renewables delivery authority should be established to achieve the changes, and claimed that the UK could again become a net exporter of energy, as it was when North Sea oil and gas production was at its height.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning, Clegg called for a "complete revolution in the new green, sustainable energy sources that we use", such as wind, wave and biomass power.
He said there was a need for an energy efficiency drive, particularly in Britain's housing.
"Our housing stock produces about 27% of our carbon emissions. We can do so much more to be efficient in the way we use energy."
Clegg said that the Liberal Democrats were not aiming for 100% of power to be generated from renewables, but said the "net effect up to 2050 would be that we become once again ... net exporters".
Attacking Gordon Brown's belief in the need for a new generation of nuclear plants, he said: "The government has spooked everyone into thinking that we need nuclear by saying: 'There's going to be a terrible energy gap. The lights are going to go out in the middle of the next decade.'
"There's actually no evidence that that is the case at all. They have raised the wrong problem in order to push the wrong solution.
"The real problem is that our energy mix is not green enough and that we are overdependent - as many people now realise because of the crisis in Georgia - on oil and gas from parts of the world that aren't very reliable."
In an assessment of the scale of the challenge, Clegg said: "I think it is a question of political will. If we have been able to put a man on the moon, been able to create the welfare state, we could revolutionise the way in which we produce energy."
Speaking at an offshore energy farm in the North Sea today, he added: "We need an 'Apollo project' for British energy independence."
Publishing his plans in an energy independence document, Clegg identified five key priorities:
• forcing energy companies to improve energy efficiency and tackle fuel poverty,
• requiring all new homes to be built to the GreenHouse heating efficiency standard by 2011,
• providing incentives for a massive expansion of renewable projects in the North Sea and elsewhere,
• creating a renewables delivery authority, modelled on the Olympics delivery authority, to ensure renewable targets are met, and
• abandoning plans for a new generation of power stations.
Clegg also revealed today that he had cut back on his car usage and ditched the vehicle allocated to him as party leader.
He told the Independent: "I hardly drive a car any more. I bought an electric moped which I think is the technology of the future.
"I got rid of the leader's car shortly after I got in."
He also repeated his pledge to double the party's current 63 seats in two general elections, dismissing Labour under Brown as having "run out of road" and attacking the "arrogance" of David Cameron.
"Something very big is going on, particularly in urban Britain," he said.
"Out of the 30 British cities, we now lead 12. That has been going on for years.
"That is where the great battlegrounds will be between ourselves and Labour at the next general election. There are a lot of seats up for grabs in those areas."
Outlining his strategy to tackle a resurgent Conservative party, he said he would target a "handful" of Tory seats and said he was "working extremely hard" to hold seats where Cameron's party are challengers.