400,000 new ‘green-collar’ jobs

Dominic O’Connell

PLANS for the creation of up to 400,000 “green-collar” jobs will be unveiled by the government this week as part of a blueprint for a low carbon economy.
The Low Carbon Transition Plan, which will be unveiled by the environment secretary Ed Miliband on Wednesday, will set out how the government intends to meet legally binding targets on reducing greenhouse gas emissions put in place last year.
A central plank of the plan will be a large increase in the use of renewable energy, such as wind, solar and wave power. Electricity suppliers will be required to buy larger amounts of such “clean” power, and the current scheme that dictates renewable energy purchases will be extended past its 2027 expiry date.
There will also be extra incentives to speed the construction of offshore wind farms and grants for homeowners to invest in energy-saving technology such as insulation.

Miliband will say that the move to a low carbon economy will create several hundred thousand jobs in industries such as offshore wind and nuclear power. The plan is likely to be followed with a series of separate policy announcements on clean coal and new nuclear power stations.