Commenting on the occupation by workers of the Vestas wind turbine factory on the Isle of White, the head of the Greenpeace climate change campaign Robin Oakley said:

"The RBS bankers got £775 million in bonuses for helping bring down the UK economy. By contrast, these men and women who could help Britain build a vibrant new green economy are being snubbed. The Government holds ultimate responsibility for the closure of this factory and the loss of 600 skilled jobs. It is factories like this and engineers like the ones occupying it that Britain desperately needs if ministers are serious about launching a green industrial revolution."

He continued:

"Last week Labour promised Britain would install thousands of wind turbines in the coming years. Are ministers really now saying they'd rather buy those turbines from abroad than make them here in the UK? Letting this factory close is like a football manager saying he's up for the cup then dropping his only goal scorer. It just doesn't make sense."

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Greenpeace - 0207 865 8255

Britain's energy system is already capable of taking a large amount of wind power, according to a new report released today by a leading energy expert. 

The report shows that there is no technical reason why a significant amount of energy generated by wind cannot be used to supply the National Grid. 

And, as the report is launched, Britain's leading environmental organisations are calling on the Government to listen to the experts and provide a boost to the country's wind industry. 

Key findings include: 

• Wind power does not need large amounts of extra conventional - fossil, nuclear or gas - energy backup to stop the lights going out - while the instant loss of a large conventional power station is a real risk, it is extremely unlikely that the same amount of wind will disappear instantaneously.
• The National Grid is more than able to manage the variable input created by wind power, as it is already designed to manage fluctuations in demand and supply - variations in wind power are considerably less than variations in consumer demand, which can vary on an hourly basis according to the weather, rush hour and even TV scheduling.
• There are no significant costs associated with managing variability - If the UK meets its renewable energy targets and within this provides 32% of our electricity from wind by 2020, it will only add £2 to every £100 spent by consumers.
• New technology would reduce this slight increase in price even more, and would reduce the need for fossil fuel station back up - technologies already exist which can hep manage the variability of wind energy and reduce associated costs, and these can be expanded upon . More accurate wind forecasting could help reduce these costs by as much as 30%.
• Wind power will provide significant job opportunities in the UK - there are already 400,000 people working in the wind-energy sector worldwide and this could reach 1 million by the end of the decade. 

Report Author David Milborrow, an energy expert with 30 years experience in the field, said:

"Utilities worldwide generally agree there is no fundamental technical reason why high proportions of wind cannot be assimilated without the lights going out." 

Chris Bennett, National Grid's Future Transmission Networks Manager, said:

"We welcome this report and the way that it highlights the implications of integrating wind into our electricity network. 

"The report complements the consultation document that National Grid issued in June which highlighted the different solutions available to ensure a safe secure and economic supply of electricity is maintained." 

Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, RSPB and WWF, who commissioned the report, are calling on the UK Government to put in place funding and incentives to encourage investment in much more wind power and to grant priority access to the energy market and the electricity grid. 

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The summary and the full report are available online.

For more information, contact: 

Greenpeace press office: 020 7865 8255

WWF press office: 01483 412 375

John Clare, RSPB Media Officer: 01767 693582

Friends of the Earth press office: 020 7566 1664

Stewart Larque, National Grid media relations manager: 01926 655274 

Notes: 

Keith Allott, Head of Climate Change at WWF-UK said:

"Britain is not short of the renewable resources, or the engineers and technological know-how to create a sustainable, zero carbon power sector. We have a fantastic opportunity now to transform the UK electricity network with many old coal and nuclear plants retiring over the next 10 years or so. What we lack is the market framework to make the clean energy revolution a reality." 

Louise Hutchins, energy solutions campaigner at Greenpeace, said:

"This report scuppers the final arguments against wind power. The government must now get cracking and make the most of the energy that wind will provide to the country. 

"And wind won't just generate energy for Britain, it will also generate thousands of jobs for Britain." 

Ruth Davis, Head of Climate Change Policy at the RSPB, said:

"Left unchecked, climate change threatens many species with extinction, and risks destroying ecosystems such as tropical forests, upon which we all depend for our survival. This report shows that sensitively located wind power, which avoids impacts on the natural environment, can provide a secure, low-carbon and sustainable source of power for the future." 

Robin Webster, Senior Climate Campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said:

"The claim that renewable power cannot deliver a big portion of our energy needs is dead and buried. The Government needs to deliver a genuine shift in energy policy in its upcoming Renewable Energy Strategy. 

"We're still right at the bottom of the renewable energy league table in Europe and the energy system in Britain is skewed against renewable power. 

"The Government needs to put renewables and energy efficiency at the centre of its energy policy - not the margins - and deliver a real industrial strategy to enable us to move towards a low-carbon economy."

Responding to news today that offshore wind farms in the UK could power 19m homes, Dr Doug Parr, Greenpeace chief scientist, said: 

"Offshore wind farms must be a key part of the UK's future energy supply. And they won't just generate electricity, they'll also generate thousands of British jobs and help tackle energy security. 

"But if Britain is to get all the benefits that offshore wind will provide, the government must do more to support the industry." 

ENDS 

Greenpeace press office: 020 7865 8255

Responding to today's report by the ippr, which says that the opportunity to create up to 70,000 UK jobs in the offshore wind industry could be lost due to a lack of government support, Greenpeace executive director John Sauven said:

"The renewable energy sector - which could provide tens of thousands of jobs - received nothing in the government's fiscal stimulus package.

"Gordon Brown personally pledged that the UK would meet its legally binding EU renewable energy target for 2020 but we're already going to miss the targets for 2010. If these targets are going to mean anything then offshore wind needs an urgently needed boost in the budget.

"Then Brown must remove the barriers preventing renewable energy development such as planning delays, and a lack of skills, grid connections and UK supply chain. Making the most of the UK's wind, wave and tidal resources would give us clean, secure energy as a key part of building a low carbon economy."

The Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) report published today said that without a rapid expansion of offshore wind capacity the UK will struggle to achieve its legally-binding target of 15 per cent of energy from renewable sources by 2020.

It also says that without greater government support, the opportunity to create up to 70,000 long-term jobs in parts of the country where they are needed, and its associated export potential, will be lost.

Despite having the greatest offshore wind potential of any country in the world, the UK is poorly placed to benefit, says the new paper. Only 700 people are currently employed in the sector and there is only one UK-based factory that manufactures parts for wind turbine parts.

The ippr recommends that the UK government learns from countries such as Denmark, Spain and Germany, who have all been successful in developing a local onshore wind industry. An ‘offshore wind investment programme' could achieve this, the report argues.

In recent weeks the CBI and Renewable Energy Association have both called for greater government action.

Research by nef (the new economics foundation) published on 30^th March 2009 found that new funding for greening the economy amounted to just 0.6 per cent of the UK's total stimulus package. Gordon Brown recently claimed to the House of Commons liaison committee that around 10 per cent of the UK package was directed towards 'environmentally important technologies'. While nef found new and additional spending on a green economy comes to just £120 million, bonuses paid to staff at RBS - which is now almost entirely publically owned - were around seven times greater. And the car industry is set to receive £2.3 billion - over 20 times as much as new government investment in a green new deal.

The report can be read on the IPPR website.

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Greenpeace press office: 020 7865 8255