We looked the other day at some key initiatives from some of the states of the USA. There's recent news of not-inconsiderable import from some of the bigger nations.
UK , Prime Minister Gordon Brown unveiled a plan last week for renewables that would commit £100 billion over the next dozen years. It's a comprehensive plan, looking at quite a bit of windpower for one thing: an estimated 4,000 new wind turbines onshore and 3,000 offshore. I mentioned one critical offshore initiative in Britain here recently. The UK plan also is going to promote distributed energy (what we call distributed generation) and microgrids. This is already a British success story. (See "Smart Grids" here from last year.) They're looking at tidal and wave power as well. Brown notes that the Severn Barrage alone could provide 5% of Britain's electricity. According to this BBC article, "Moves to speed up the connection of renewable energy projects to the national grid are also expected to be announced to help clear a huge backlog of proposed developments."
For a succinct video clip of the PM talking about this, go here. Brown, for my money, is well grounded and focused, and I think this ambitious plan is going to get done. For the whole speech, go here. You can also read the transcript here.
According to Brown, "It will mean by 2020 renewables accounting for over 30% of electricity supply, 14% of heat supply, up to 10% of transport fuels. It will save an additional 20 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, it will reduce our gas imports by up to 16%." Brown also believes in the economics of renewables, as does Business Secretary John Hutton who said: "We will also maximise the economic benefit for the UK by creating a new generation of green collar jobs and making the most of our strengths as one of the world's largest manufacturing economies; a world class centre of energy expertise and a leading location for inward investment." (See also The Business of Renewables from February.)
Britain is the nation that spearheaded the Industrial Revolution. You may remember that the atmosphere had a mere 278 ppm of carbon dioxide before then. We're on a fast track to double that and wreak extraordinary havoc if we don't move away from business as usual. Britain seems to be well committed to a course other than BAU.
Next up, India.
