Britain pins climate goals on clean energy

Britain will double the share of its energy from low carbon sources by 2020 as part of plans to counter global warming, the government said on Wednesday.Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said 40 percent of Britain's electricity will come from nuclear, wind, solar, marine and cleaner coal, compared with a fifth of today's supplies.Nuclear now supplies around 20 percent of Britain's electricity, and is not expected to grow over the period, while the other sources such as wind currently play a minor role but will deliver the low carbon growth."Our plan will strengthen our energy security...it seizes industrial opportunity and it rises to the moral challenge of climate change," Miliband said in a statement.Miliband said the pledge showed Britain's commitment to United Nations climate change talks in Copenhagen in December that aim to secure a global deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol on reducing emissions.Attempts to reach a new agreement have foundered on fears that environmental targets could hamper any economic recovery and arguments between rich and developing nations on the level of emissions cuts.U.S. President Barack Obama, who chaired the Major Economies Forum this month, failed to convince China, India and other developing nations to sign up to a G8-supported goal of halving world emissions by 2050.With Britain in its worst recession in 50 years and the ruling Labour Party trailing in the polls with an election less than a year away, the government has been keen to talk up the benefits of the growing environmental sector.Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said the proposals would be important for the economic recovery, adding: "The government is determined to ensure it maximises the economic and employment opportunities this transition offers."GLOBAL MARKETIn a series of policy documents, Britain said the global market for low carbon goods and services could expand to 4.3 trillion pounds ($7,047 billion) by 2015 from 3 trillion pounds in 2007/08 and grow even faster if a deal is struck in Denmark.Miliband said Britain's low carbon sector will be one of the few areas of the economy that will grow during the recession and beyond, expanding at over 4 percent each year up to 2014/15.The number of people employed in the sector in Britain could rise by up to 400,000 to more than 1.28 million by 2015, compared to 880,000 today.The jobs will be created in areas like the design and production of low carbon vehicles and the development of renewable energy such as wind, marine and nuclear power.Action to tackle climate change will add about 8 percent to household energy bills by 2020, Miliband said. This estimate relies on consumers using less energy.The government hopes the measures will improve Britain's energy security by preventing any increase in gas imports between 2010 and 2020. [ID:nLF021640]About a fifth of the emissions cuts by 2020 will come from cleaner transport, including government subsidies of between 2,000 and 5,000 pounds for each electric car.A further 15 percent of the emissions cuts must come from making homes more energy efficient, while 10 percent of the savings will be made in the workplace.People and businesses who generate small amounts of energy through solar panels or other renewable sources, will be paid extra for feeding the energy into the national power networks.Rates and terms will be announced after a public consultation due to begin by next April.Britain was the first country to set legally-binding emissions targets. It wants to cut its output of planet-warming gases by 34 percent by 2020, from 1990 levels.