A mass market in renewable technologies could be created if the Conservative Party comes to power in the UK.

The Tories have proposed the introduction of a “feed-in tariff” scheme to the electricity supply grid to encourage homeowners to invest in solar power and other renewable electricity generating schemes.

The tariff would guarantee a price for electricity generated in homes from solar power. Such a scheme would be similar to those already operating in Germany and the Netherlands.

Conservative leader David Cameron said the take-up of micro-power has been slow in Britain, where no incentives are paid to small-scale electricity generators.

He said: “We need to move from a top-down, old world, centralised electricity system to a bottom-up, new world decentralised system”.

The party said it would bring in laws to require all existing electricity suppliers to produce contracts to buy electricity from anyone who generated it.

The Renewable Energy Association welcomed the proposals, saying they built on measures that have “proved to be highly successful overseas”. The association called for an extension of the tariffs to cover renewable heat.

Source

Building Sustainable Design