Conservative quality of life report - Greenpeace response

Greenpeace today welcomed the Conservative's Quality of Life proposals on energy generation as a 'milestone in thinking'. The environment group also hailed the group's push to redefine progress beyond the narrow confines of economic growth.

As the report powerfully states - if society at large can shift its thinking away from 'what can I buy?' to 'what do I want from life?' or 'what needs do I have?' then perhaps we can decouple economic growth from resource input.

Calling for a low carbon revolution, the report calls Gordon Brown's bluff by showing how we can keep the lights on and cut CO2 without using nuclear power. The Tory report recommends a radical overhaul in the way Britain generates its electricity and heats its homes and businesses. The proposals would encourage local authorities and other communities to invest in local energy schemes, generating their own heat and electricity. Communities would receive seed funding to support the roll-out of combined heat and power plants and microgeneration.

A decentralised system is one in which electricity is produced near to where it is used, avoiding the huge waste associated with traditional power stations. Currently around two-thirds of the energy generated in a power station is lost in the form of wasted heat or in long distance transmission.

The tough efficiency measures also called for in the report cover cars, domestic appliances and inefficient light bulbs. The report calls for the UK to take a lead in setting efficiency targets to get the rest of Europe to follow. On aviation the report calls for a moratorium on runway expansion saying there should be a hold on all plans, including Heathrow's proposed third runway.

The main weakness in the report is its lack of clear support for large scale renewables - especially on-shore wind - and allowing coal-fired power plants to continue operation until 2025.

Greenpeace Executive Director John Sauven said:

"This is a significant set of proposals, especially on decentralised energy and energy efficiency. The report recognises that we can power Britain while slashing our emissions and burying nuclear power for good. David Cameron should adopt the proposals for a low carbon revolution as policy."

He added:

"A moratorium on aviation expansion is a simple common sense policy demanded by the science of climate change. Any political party that builds new runways simply isn’t serious about tackling global warming."

You can view the Greenpeace film on decentralised energy here.

For more, contact Greenpeace on 0207 865 8255
.