UK energy secretary Chris Huhne (above left) and Norwegian petroleum and energy minister Ola Borten Moe have just signed an agreement to further North Sea offshore renewable energy technology and interconnection. It will also covers carbon capture and storage, oil and gas technology.

Huhne told the Renewable UK conference in Manchester that the UK would become “the largest market in Europe for offshore wind energy“. He went on to say that the last financial year had seen almost £1.7 billion in renewable energy investment, supported by more than 9,000 jobs.

Chris Huhne, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, speaking at the RenewableUK conference in Manchester on 26 October 2011
Chris Huhne, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, speaking at the RenewableUK conference in Manchester on 26 October 2011

 

In an outspoken attack that will have wind energy supporters cheering to the rafters, he slammed into green energy deniers, saying that they were “an unholy alliance of short-termists, armchair engineers, climate sceptics and vested interests who are selling the UK economy short”.

He continued in the same vein- “I want to take aim at the curmudgeons and faultfinders who hold forth on the impossibility of renewables – the climate sceptics and armchair engineers who are selling Britain’s ingenuity short.”

The Energy Secretary said “Renewable energy technologies will deliver a third industrial revolution. Its impact will be every bit as profound as the first two. The revolution has already begun, from the Western Isles to the Isle of Wight. Across the length and breadth of Britain, new companies are creating new jobs and delivering the technologies that will power our future.”

At a time when the recession, economic doom and gloom, closures and cuts dominate the media, it’s welcome to have an unbeat message that the next generation of industries are making jobs and putting money into Britain. He said that while the UK is producing only 2% of global carbon emissions the country could grasp the opportunity now  to make sure British businesses and economy can be much more than 2% of the solution.

His words highlight that the problem is global and the solution needs to be global too- this is no time for parochialism.

So in an indication that manufacturers, suppliers and service providers in renewable energy should be beating a path to the UK’s door, he said  “I can assure you that this coalition government has resolved that we will be the largest market in Europe for offshore wind.”

 

Figures published at the Manchester conference showed that over the first half of 2011 onshore wind output was up 64% from 2.97TWh to 4.86TWh, whilst offshore rose even further, up 87% from 1.13TWh to 2.11TWh.

 

 

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