Ed Miliband to unveil plans to make UK ‘clean’ by 2030 – but critics accuse Energy Secretary of ‘betraying’ promise to bring down household bills_Nhy
Ed Miliband was accused last night of betraying voters by dropping Labour‘s manifesto vow to save households £300 from their bills – as he reveals plans to make Britain’s energy system ‘clean’ by 2030.
The Energy Secretary said the Government and private firms will spend £40billion a year to clean up the energy sector in a plan for the UK to produce net-zero greenhouse gases by 2050.
In a speech today, he will cite ‘clean-energy projects held up by a clogged-up planning system’ and long delays to connect solar farms and wind farms to the grid.
The Government will also stop judicial reviews delaying new energy projects, he said.
But Tories said Labour misled the public at the general election by abandoning an earlier promise to save every household £300.
The figure was not mentioned yesterday and, according to a preview of his speech, Mr Miliband will merely speak of a ‘positive vision’ that includes ‘lower bills’.
Green groups claim the clean-energy push will rely on biomass – burning millions of tons of wood at the Drax plant in North Yorkshire.
Mr Miliband will concede that even by 2030 the UK will still rely on the existing 49 gas-powered stations to keep the lights on when a lack of sun or wind means a shortage of renewable power.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband (pictured) said the Government and private firms will spend £40billion a year to clean up the energy sector in a plan for the UK to produce net-zero greenhouse gases by 2050
Mr Miliband will concede that even by 2030 the UK will still rely on the existing 49 gas-powered stations to keep the lights on when a lack of sun or wind means a shortage of renewable power (Stock image)
The plan will also rely on nuclear power – including ageing power stations that will be kept online for an extra two years (Stock image)
Gas-powered stations will, however, provide no more than 5 per cent of total power over the year. The plan will also use new gas power that is ‘abated’, meaning carbon dioxide emissions will be stored underground.
Yesterday was a day of weak renewable energy generation – a record 75.4 per cent of energy came from gas-powered stations. Mr Miliband is expected to say: ‘The Government is embarking on the most ambitious reforms to our energy system in generations.
‘The era of clean electricity is about harnessing the power of natural resources so we can protect working people from the ravages of global energy markets.
‘The clean-power sprint is the national security, economic security, and social justice fight of our time.’
The plan will also rely on nuclear power – including ageing power stations that will be kept online for an extra two years – as well as carbon capture and storage, in which greenhouse gases are stored underground.
Tory energy spokesman Claire Coutinho said: ‘Ed Miliband spent the election promising to cut energy bills by £300 by 2030, then took the same amount from pensioners. His promise to cut bills by £300 is nowhere to be seen.
‘Instead he now has proof that his rush to decarbonise the electricity system by 2030 will push up electricity prices and cause more hardship, but he’s pushing on regardless. We need cheap, reliable energy – not higher bills.’
Doug Parr, Greenpeace’s UK policy director, said: ‘A plan for clean power cannot rely on destructive bio-mass, or extend the life of climate-wrecking oil and gas by assigning capacity to carbon capture and storage.’
