Pre-Budget report: Green measures: £400m support for low-carbon UK

Published on Wednesday 9 December 2009 21:32

ADDRESSING climate change will bring "opportunities for new low-carbon industries" and create high-skilled, highly-paid jobs, the Chancellor claimed as he unveiled £400 million to support the "low-carbon economy".

Alistair Darling promised 120m for low-carbon industries, including 50m for manufacturing and testing facilities for offshore wind technology and 30m for "green" transport projects.

He said the UK would also pump 100m (91m) into a European Investment Bank-led fund which would invest 1.5 billion of equity and 5bn debt into low-carbon infrastructure. Clare McColl, a director at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said: "Anything that's going to support the low-carbon and sustainability agendas has got to be good for Scotland.

She added: "We're ideally placed geographically to pick up on this market – renewables is a big industry for us and could be so much bigger."

But McColl said companies within the sector would prefer to see reforms in the planning system, which would allow them to erect turbines more quickly.

Scottish & Southern Energy, which owns wind-power firm Airtricity and has a stake in Aquamarine, which is developing a wave-energy machine, welcomed the encouragement for more investment in the UK.

The company said: "Such investment will be critical to address the issues currently being discussed in Copenhagen and the long-term security of the UK's energy supplies."

Niall Stuart, chief executive of trade body Scottish Renewables, added: "There are some welcome ambitions for investment in the offshore wind supply chain, which is desperately needed if we are to retain wealth created by investment in offshore projects."

But environmental groups questioned the benefits the PBR announcements would bring.

John Sauven, Greenpeace's executive director, said: "Alistair Darling peppered his speech with references to a low-carbon economy, but failed to announce the scale of change that would actually give us one. A bold chancellor would have scrapped Trident, saved 100bn and used the cash to create a green investment bank. This would help British companies invest in clean technology, and bring thousands of jobs."