Sir, Although the Government has set itself ambitious targets it has so far failed to implement them (“Prepare for the next technological revolution”, Business, Dec 1). Countries such as Sweden and Germany used a system of incentives to encourage the construction of low-energy “passivhaus” and now even plus-energy buildings, and to modernise existing dwellings. Large power stations gave way to much smaller combined heat and power plants that feed the waste heat into a district heating system, taking overall efficiency from 35 per cent to more than 90 per cent. Renewables already contribute more than 30 per cent of primary energy in a number of EU countries — but only 1.7 per cent in the UK.

Most of the “energy revolution” is very unspectacular, but will affect every area of life: homes and offices need to be upgraded, town planning has to give higher priority to pedestrians and public transport than to cars, trains will have to replace flights. The energy revolution reduces money transfers to oil and gas producing countries and instead creates jobs within the country (250,000 so far in Germany): would that not be welcome in the current economic crisis?

Gerhard Bissels

Mitcham, Surrey

Sir, For far too long warnings about the reality and consequences of climate change from the scientific community have been ignored by government. The consequences of that failure vastly exceed those we suffer at present because of the credit crunch: our very survival.

On a personal level, those who, like me, installed solar energy capture systems at considerable expense have met nothing but obstruction and discouragement, especially when compared with those living in many other European countries.

The resources currently going into VAT reduction and propping up the banks would be much better invested in expansion of the alternative energy industries and would do far more to create employment.

Amyan Macfadyen

Sheffield

Sir, The average UK citizen has a lot to gain from the 80 per cent greenhouse gas reduction target. Speaking at a conference in June, Gordon Brown pointed out that the contribution of the environmental sector to the UK economy is set to skyrocket. By 2050 the low-carbon energy sector could be worth as much as $3 trillion per year worldwide and employ more than 25 million people. Recent estimates suggest that UK offshore wind and wave power alone could bring in £3 billion and put 160,000 people in work. More jobs and a greener future? Yes please.

Julia Farley

Leicester

Sir, The importance of refusing planning permission for any new power station that is not as carbon friendly as it can possibly be must be emphasised. New technology exists to minimise carbon emissions from coal-fired power stations, so there is no need to allow old-fashioned, dirty ones to be built.

I refer, of course, to the plans for Kingsnorth in Kent. Not only would this one power station make it almost impossible for us to decrease our current carbon emissions, but such a permit is very likely to lead to even more applications. This in turn would negate the Government’s message about an 80 per cent reduction by 2050.

New technology is the way forward and I support any and all incentives for householders as well as industry to reduce their use of fossil fuels. Instead of viewing the current financial situation as a crisis, it should be viewed as an opportunity to boost as many ecologically sound new projects as possible and not waste money on the technology of the past.

Pauline Neale

Leeds

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