Huhne hails renewables and hits out at ‘climate sceptics’

Published on Wednesday 26 October 2011 00:10

Energy Secretary Chris Huhne is expected to attack “climate sceptics and armchair engineers” for criticising renewables, in a speech today on the economic benefits of green energy.

He will insist the UK government has resolved to make Britain the largest market in Europe for offshore wind.

His speech to a renewables industry conference comes in the wake of the publication of government proposals to cut subsidies for green technologies including onshore wind, although it had better news on support for offshore wind, wave and tidal power.

The solar industry is also bracing itself for an announcement on the review of feed-in tariffs that pay people for the electricity they generate from small scale renewables, which is expected to slash payments for solar electricity.

The industry claims the expected move will hit jobs and growth in the sector.

But the Energy Secretary is expected to say renewable energy technologies will deliver a new industrial revolution, creating jobs and bringing investment into the UK.

Critics claim renewable energy is expensive and unreliable and that support for it adds to consumer bills, but proponents say shifting to green power reduces the reliance on fossil fuels, which have driven recent large rises in household bills.

Mr Huhne will tell the RenewableUK conference: “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 closures and cuts dominate the news cycle, next-generation industries are providing jobs and sinking capital into Britain.

“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.”

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nabodican

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 06:24 PM

I have just read Chris Huhnes speech and am totally gobsmacked at the ignorance of the man, he is a disgrace to politics and to the British people. His lack of technical knowledge for an energy minister is outrageous. He is so far up the arse of the wind industry, a John Deere could not pull him out.

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Derryboy

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 03:34 PM

As a professional engineer I take grave exception to Huhne's comments. His website says it all "Before entering politics, Chris was a financial and economic journalist for nineteen years at the Guardian, Independent and the Economist." In other words he knows sweet fa about the ministerial postion he has been handed. Anyone with half a brain can see that anthropogenic climate change is a myth, however this is obviously something that this idiot aspires to.

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nabodican

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 02:17 PM

#2 Wardog I say old chap, it is a bit off insulting a balloon like that.

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Charles11

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 02:15 PM

The majority of people are not so much criticising renewables, but man made global warming. The climate has always changed and always will do.

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6

Richard Lionheart

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 12:49 PM

Government currently has a policy of attacking those who do not agree with their policies. The euro is a fine example of politicians being wrong. Mr Huhne will not be around when his environmental policy is shown and proven without doubt to be wrong. Co2 is not a pollutant. We need it to grow our food and it is an integral part of the system which gives us life. The planet is designed to replenish itself and for that reason the climate requires to change. Huhne is short sighted and needs to realise that the climate has never stopped changing, and that the ice has been melting for many hundreds of years. End greenAnarchist policies now = Save the Human Race and the Planet

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5

Tintock Pete

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 12:24 PM

#3 a33, yes how many plumbers and council gritters are praying for another harsh winter?

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4

Heinz Doofensmirtz

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 11:49 AM

I wonder how he feels about speeding fine skeptics. A genuinely vile man. So many politicans appear to be really useless people.

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a33

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 08:28 AM

“Across the length and breadth of Britain, new companies are creating new jobs and delivering the technologies that will power our future." Just a pity that for every job created delivering wind and wave power results in the loss of two jobs in the wider economy. As one notable economist pointed out, if creating jobs is the criterion, all that is required is for someone to go out and break every window in their street, creating weeks of work for joiners, glaziers, transport companies and glass makers.

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2

The Harder They Come

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 03:10 AM

Chris Huhne is a complete balloon

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antiparasite

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 12:39 AM

There are many toxins being pumped into our enviroment, but why is the focus on C02 and not the real killers?

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