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Pump Cash into Renewable Energy to Boost Economy; Local Leaders urge Ministers

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By: Isaac Newton Tetteh

More than 100 mayors, local leaders and energy businesses Siemens UK and EDF called for the Government to invest in wind and solar power.

Campaigning under the banner UK100, they said such a move would unlock £100billion of schemes, including up to £40bn for energy efficiency and create more than 300,000 jobs.

The group will present its report to ministers today.

Director Polly Billington said: “If ministers are to meet their manifesto promise on energy efficiency in our homes, which are some of the leakiest in Europe, they need to kick start a renewable revolution.

“This would help hard-pressed consumers save on their fuel bills, support hundreds of thousands of jobs and protect the environment.”

She believed that “£5bn now would unlock £100bn to rescue the UK economy and deliver on the Prime Minister’s ambitions of levelling up and meeting net-zero” – the Government’s plan for net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Siemens UK chief executive Carl Ennis said: “There is an urgent need to scale-up local, sustainable energy if the UK is to have any chance of meeting net-zero by 2050.

“This requires a collective national effort with government, business and the public all playing our part.

“Local energy should be at the heart of the national infrastructure strategy, creating a more consistent policy landscape that will give investors the confidence to invest earlier.”

The report looked at the progress of five regional energy hubs set up by the Government in 2018 which currently focus on 183 projects valued at £850million.

Ninety-per-cent were still at an early stage and most were relatively small scale at below £5m, the study said.

Source: Mirror.co.uk

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