Read intelligent and informed insights on our Green Central blog

Householders will be encouraged to compete to be ‘greener than the Joneses’ under Conservative plans to tell people what their neighbours spend on energy.

Telling people how much their neighbours spend on gas and electricity is designed to encourage them to keep their costs down and reduce their consumption of fossil fuels.

David Cameron, the Conservative leader, announced the initiative as part of his plans to wean the British public off their dependence on the fossil fuels that drive climate change.

He said the problems of energy security, climate change and the cost of supplies are so acute that radical changes in how Britain is supplied must be introduced.

“I’m talking about reconfiguring the whole economy and overturning our whole hydrocarbon dependency,” he told an audience in London.

“I’m talking about completely changing the way we heat our homes, travel to work and produce our food.

“The era of cheap oil is well and truly over. So whether we need to cut our carbon or not – which we do - whether you believe in climate change or not – which you should - for the sake of our future prosperity and our current cost of living, we must wean ourselves off our dependence on fossil fuels and go green.”

As part of his green energy policy he said competition between neighbours needs to be kick-started to ensure each tries to be the greenest consumer in their streets.

Mr Cameron said he wanted to see energy bills reveal the average consumption of similar households so that neighbourly peer pressure would ensure people tried to consume more efficiently. Each house would also have smart metres allowing homeowners to see how much energy they were consuming minute-by-minute.

Ending the fossil fuel culture, he said, would reduce Britain’s dependence on energy supplies from countries that are often in the most volatile parts of the world and have autocratic governments.

Equally, turning to green energy supplies such as wave and tidal energy around Britain’s lengthy coastline will, he said play a vital role in reducing the carbon dioxide emissions that are driving climate change.

He promised the next Conservative government will “put rocket boosters” behind research and development projects to ensure green technology is available.

The Tory leader was particularly keen to see rapid investment in carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology which would reduce carbon emissions by power plants by an estimated 85 per cent.

CCS, if effectively developed, will remove carbon dioxide from the plants and store it safely deep beneath the ground, most likely in emptying oil fields.

Mr Cameron dismissed arguments that green policies are only affordable during times of economic upturn and said the environment was too important to be ignored just because times were hard: “It’s not that we can’t afford to go green - it’s that we can’t afford not to go green.”

While outlining his “blue-green charter” he said he wanted to see transport infrastructure transformed, including the widespread take-up of hydrogen-powered cars.

Times Recommends

• Zardari still has to tackle tough questions
• Material evidence 'debunks' Turin Shroud
• BBC criticised over Uganda gay execution poll