Carry on making the case for renewables

“Renewable energy technologies will deliver a third industrial revolution. Its impact will be every bit as profound as the first two. My argument is a simple one: the revolution has already begun,” Huhne said in a speech to the Renewable UK Conference in Manchester yesterday (26 October).

“As we look to pull ourselves out of recovery and back to prosperity, renewable energy can light the way,” Huhne told delegates.

“I want to look at the contribution renewable energy is making to our economy right now. The investment it is sparking, the jobs it is delivering, the growth it is creating. And I will look at what we can to do encourage that growth – and sustain those jobs.

But first, I want to take aim at the faultfinders and curmudgeons who hold forth on the impossibility of renewables – the unholy alliance of climate sceptics and armchair engineers who are selling Britain’s ingenuity short.

"Renewables are too expensive", they cry. "They cannot deliver energy at scale. They are uneconomic, unreliable and unwanted."

Time to retire the myths about renewables

Let us start with the most egregious: that renewables are too expensive; that they could not exist without public subsidy; that they are held up by government cash alone.

Last year, global investment in renewable energy rose by 32 per cent to $211 billion. And $142 billion of that was new financial investment, which excludes government and corporate R&D.

Renewables are grabbing a large and growing share of new energy investment.

Yes, some of that investment is attracted by public subsidy. But globally, subsidies for fossil fuels outstrip subsidies for renewables by a factor of five.

We subsidise renewables to bring on deployment and reduce costs. And we’ve seen some remarkable successes: the cost of solar energy just keeps on tumbling.

Right now, support for renewable energy costs the average household less than sixpence a day. But decades of underinvestment in energy efficiency and reliance on fossil fuels costs us much, much more.

About half of the average household bill goes on wholesale gas and electricity costs. These costs are highly volatile, and as [is clear, the higher gas price is the real reason bills have been going up over the past eight years.

That is why we need a flexible energy portfolio.

Capacity

The second fallacy is that renewables cannot deliver energy reliably or at scale. But today, more than 10 gigawatts of our electricity capacity is renewable. That’s enough to power six million homes. And with every passing year, renewable energy takes over another percentage point of global electricity capacity.

In 2007, 5 per cent of the world’s electricity was renewable. In 2008, it was 6 per cent. In 2009, 7 per cent. And last year, 8 per cent. And it’s still growing. More than a third of the new capacity added last year – some 60GW – was from non-hydro renewables.

Yes, some renewable technologies are intermittent, but providing back-up for intermittent renewables is not that expensive. We already swing from a low of demand of 40GW to a high of 80GW every day.

Every year, renewable energy is attracting more investment and delivering more capacity. It is also gathering more support. One hundred and nineteen countries have renewable energy targets or policies – up from an estimated 55 just six years ago.

Attractiveness

That brings me to the third great misconception about renewable energy: that it is unwanted.

Earlier this year, Ipsos MORI polled a thousand UK adults on which energy source they preferred. By a clear margin, people favoured renewables. Eighty-eight per cent of those polled viewed solar power favourably; 82 per cent wind, 76 per cent for hydroelectric, 57 per cent biomass. The highest placed traditional energy source for electricity was gas, at 56 per cent.

Economy

At a time when closures and cuts dominate the news cycle, next-generation industries are providing jobs, just as in the recovery after the last deep depression in 1929 to 1931. It is new and innovative industries that grow fastest.

Renewable energy is surging out across the UK, blazing a trail of start-ups and jobs. Renewable energy doesn’t just have the potential to bring Britain’s economy back to life – it has already started. Our job now is to allow it to really flourish. How? By setting clear and coherent objectives. And using regulation and closely targeted support to hit them.

Targets

To hit our EU renewable energy target, we must generate 30 per cent of our electricity from renewables by 2020. That means a fourfold increase in deployment – turning our back on an inheritance that ranked us as the dunce in class, 25th out of 27 EU countries for renewables.

Industry must carry on making the case for renewables. Engaging with communities – and answering its critics by delivering renewable schemes that save money and save carbon.

Government must break through the barriers that are stopping new schemes being built, overcoming the financial, planning and delivery hurdles that can hold up progress on renewables.

And together we must do a better job of communicating. That means engaging with the communities who stand to benefit, and the investors who don’t yet see the promise that renewable energy holds.

We must ensure the silent majority aren’t drowned out by the vocal minority – those opposed to renewable energy in all its forms. That means making sure communities that host renewables benefit more directly.

Globally, around half a trillion dollars has been earmarked for green stimulus spending. We will need to spend a hundred times that by 2050 to hit our climate targets. We must be realistic. The pressure on the public finances means we cannot support everything at the level we otherwise would.

So we must ensure we send clear market signals: deploying public finance intelligently, and breaking through barriers to growth.”

This is an edited version of a speech made on 26 October by Chris Huhne, UK Secretary for Energy at the annual Renewable UK Conference held in Manchester