Clegg unveils plans for huge expansion in renewable energy, with energy independence by 2050

The Independent reports:

Nick Clegg will today unveil plans to make Britain an exporter of green energy by 2050, as he called for a programme “on the scale of the Apollo moon landings” to transform Britain’s dependence on foreign oil, gas and coal supplies.

In an interview with The Independent, the Liberal Democrat leader demanded the scrapping of new nuclear and coal-fired power stations, instead proposing the establishment of a renewables delivery authority to oversee a massive expansion of wind, solar and wave energy, funded by guaranteed premium prices for green energy.

He said: “Renewable energy is no longer a pipe dream. It is realistic and achievable. All it requires is the leadership and vision that has been lacking under years of tired Labour thinking.

“That’s why I will set out Liberal Democrat proposals to become energy independent by 2050. This will require the kind of ambition and political will that succeeded in putting man on the Moon.”

You can listen again to Nick’s interview on Radio 4 this morning via the BBC website, which also reports that:

Mr Clegg told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he wanted to see the creation of a renewables delivery authority – similar to the Olympic Delivery Authority – to make a “complete revolution” in energy supply a reality.

“We’ve only just started, I think, making the first tentative steps to see what’s possible,” he said.

“The thing that I think has gone wrong in this debate is that 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’s the case at all. They’ve raised the wrong problem in order to push the wrong solution.

“The real problem is that our energy mix is not green enough and we’re over dependent on oil and gas from parts of the world that aren’t very reliable.”