UK could generate £70bn from wind, wave power – Carbon Trust

www.environmental-finance.com
2 July

The UK offshore wind and wave power markets could be worth £70 billion ($115 billion) and provide at least 15% of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions reductions needed to meet the country's 2050 targets, said the Carbon Trust today.

At the launch of its 'Clean Tech Revolution' campaign, the company - set up by the UK government to aid the transition to a low-carbon economy - said that developing the offshore wind energy sector could have a net economic value of £65 billion and create 220,000 jobs by 2050, through developing the technology in the UK rather than importing it. To support this, up to £600 million is needed for R&D as well as the lifting of regulatory barriers and mechanisms to accelerate the deployment of offshore wind energy.

And with 25% of global wave power technology already being developed in the UK, the country is poised to be the "natural owner" of this market, said the Carbon Trust. This could generate £2 billion per year by 2050 and support 16,000 jobs directly, plus an unquantified number of secondary service jobs.

"These technologies are not green 'nice to haves', but are critical to the economic recovery of the UK," said Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust. "To reap the significant rewards from their successful development, we must prioritise and comprehensively back the technologies that offer the best chance of securing long-term carbon savings, jobs and revenue for Britain... The global race is clearly on and the clock is ticking." He added that the UK needs to focus on technology prioritisation, and channel public support to technologies that offer the maximum impact on cutting CO2 emissions and generating economic benefit for the country.

As part of the campaign, launched today, the Carbon Trust will be launching 15 R&D and technology acceleration projects this year, adding to the 40 already underway.