The results of the closest fought election in years will soon be in. Whilst we wait to see if the predicted outcome of a hung parliament is on the cards, we take a look at what the main parties have pledged in their manifestos regarding the future of renewable energy.
The Green Party manifesto includes:
A solar PV generation target of 25GW by 2020
£35 billion investment in renewable energy to enable solar installations on the rooftops of public buildings, including schools and hospitals
Granting full borrowing powers to the Green Investment Bank
Large and medium sized renewable energy projects to be funded by local authorities
Fixed-price Feed-In tariffs on a long term basis to encourage more renewable energy installations
Closing all coal-fired plants by 2023 and phasing out nuclear power within 10 years
The Labour Party manifesto includes:
Tackling climate change
“Work with the solar industry to provide the stable environment it needs in order to thrive”
Making five million more homes energy efficient within the next 10 years
Granting free energy saving technologies to homes in or at risk of fuel poverty
Creating one million additional ‘green jobs’
Enabling the Green Investment Bank to help finance renewable energy projects
Creating an Energy Security Board to help plan the UK’s future energy solutions
Decarbonising the UK’s energy supply by 2030
The Conservative Party manifesto includes:
Supporting renewable energy technologies if they “clearly represent value for money”
Not supporting solar, axing public funding of onshore wind farms and tightening planning controls
Supporting nuclear power and fracking
The Liberal Democrat Party manifesto includes:
Generating private investment of £100 billion for the renewable energy sector
Obtaining a third of its energy from renewable sources by the end of the next parliament in 2020
Decarbonising power generation to 50-100g of CO2 per kWh by 2030 inline with the Committee for Climate Change’s target
The UKIP manifesto includes:
Discarding all subsides for renewable energies and focusing on nuclear, gas and coal to provide electricity
Terminating the Department for Energy and Climate Change
Discarding the Climate Change Act to save the UK £720 billion and ending the UK’s commitment to decarbonising the energy sector
Possibly supporting investment in renewable energy technologies in the future if and when they can deliver competitively priced electricity
Unsurprisingly the Green Party seems to be the most on board when it comes to the future of renewable energy technology, with Labour and the Lib Dems close behind. The Conservatives and UKIP, however, are far less supportive.
So, the all important questions are, who will be running the country, will they deliver on their promises and how will it really affect the future of renewable energy? We’ll just have to wait and see.
