Tories demand green budget

Speaking at the UKGBC this morning shadow chancellor George Osborne said that by implementing Tory policies in the budget: “The Chancellor can unleash £30 billion of private sector investment in a green technology revolution that will create jobs and opportunities across Britain.

Osborne criticised the Government for its failure to create a low-carbon economy. As a result he said: “British companies have less than 5% of the global market for green goods and services. That’s less than France Germany, Japan or the United States”.

The shadow chancellor said that if one in every two homes took advantage of the Conservative’s previously announced plan for home owners to borrow up to £6500 to invest in energy saving technologies it would “catalyse at least £20 billion of new private sector investment, and create new jobs in every region”.

The Conservatives called on the chancellor to adopt the following 10 policies in the budget:

• A £6500 energy entitlement for every home to be fitted with energy efficiency improvements
• Fund at least three carbon capture and storage projects
• Bring forward the roll out of smart meters in every home and business to allow people to monitor their energy consumption in real time
• Bring forward the introduction of feed-in tariffs
• Create a national recharging network for electric vehicles
• Begin work on a new high speed rail network
• Invest in the creation of a smart electricity grid to pave the way for renewable energy sources
• Provide government loan guarantees to companies investing in green technologies and create the world’s first environmental trading market
• Create an aquatic version of science parks called Marine Energy Parks on the coast to accelerate the development of wind and tidal technologies
• Build an offshore DC cable network all the coastline to allow offshore windfarms access to the electricity grid