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Clean energy

Why does clean energy matter?

We need energy for everything – to get to work, to stay warm, cook dinner, watch TV… the list goes on. But the way we use energy and the way it’s produced has impacts on the environment – particularly contributing to climate change through carbon emissions. The good news is we can all do something about it. We're about to launch an exciting new campaign for renewable energy - watch this space!


Steam rises from a power station behind a wind farm

There are two simple ways we can significantly cut carbon emissions. We can reduce energy demand – making our homes more energy-efficient is a good start. And we can clean up the energy supply – using more wind, solar and wave power, and making sure remaining fossil fuel plants are as clean and efficient as possible.

The Energy Bill 2011, which has just gone through Parliament, was the first opportunity for this government (proudly calling itself “the greenest ever”) to put the UK on course to become a low-carbon, energy-efficient society with a cleaner power sector.

Over a quarter of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions are from housing. Cutting these should be a no-brainer – it would save householders money and improve unhealthy living conditions. And we can do it right now with existing technology.

And the way that electricity is produced is really important to reduce our emissions. According to the independent Committee on Climate Change, to hit our carbon targets we need to get close to zero carbon electricity generation in the next twenty years.

The UK government has initiated the most far-reaching reform of the electricity market since its privatisation. This plan will reach parliament in spring 2012.

It’s essential that the government gets this reform right. The wrong choices could mean we’ll be locked into high-carbon fossil fuel power generation or greater dependence on expensive and risky nuclear power.

The more sustainable and affordable option is to rapidly and massively expand our use of renewable energy sources - our new report, Positive Energy, shows that in the UK we could get between 60-90% of our electricity from renewables by 2030. 

We're calling on the government to set a target to generate at least 60% of our electricity from renewables by 2030.


How is it all connected?

Watch our film on energy production and climate change


Wind farm