by
Patrick Whelan
The British publication, The Economist, wrote an article entitled Greenstanding, how Great Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Green New Deal will do little for renewable energy in the United Kingdom. During this time of global economic downturn, Prim Minister Brown call for an increase in renewable energy to provide not only new jobs for citizens of Great Britain but also provide clean energy for the small nation. Many of Great Britain's power plants need replacing and new energy sources are needed to expand for the expanding country. Renewable energy would also curb the country's dependence on foreign oil and natural gas, and it would also reduce its output of greenhouse gas, which is the leading cause of global warming.
Patrick Whelan
The British publication, The Economist, wrote an article entitled Greenstanding, how Great Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Green New Deal will do little for renewable energy in the United Kingdom. During this time of global economic downturn, Prim Minister Brown call for an increase in renewable energy to provide not only new jobs for citizens of Great Britain but also provide clean energy for the small nation. Many of Great Britain's power plants need replacing and new energy sources are needed to expand for the expanding country. Renewable energy would also curb the country's dependence on foreign oil and natural gas, and it would also reduce its output of greenhouse gas, which is the leading cause of global warming.
On April First, a state-owned Norwegian firm call Statkraft issued a statement saying that it was investing 715 million dollars in a Scottish wind farm. However, although this is a step forward for Great Britain has a long way to go to increase its renewable energy supply. Less than five percent of Great Britain's electricity came from renewable energy sources in 2006, which is far behind Denmark with 26 percent and 48 percent in Sweden's use of renewable energy. Due to lower oil prices and sagging demand for renewable energy are put on a back burner. The Economist believes Mr. Brown's plan looks flimsy, and with Royal Dutch Shell pulling out of a three billion dollar wind-farm deal, things are not looking good.
Great Britain's politicians are simply loosing interest in renewable energy according to Andrew Simms director of NEF. Great Britain stimulus package only includes seven percent for investment in renewable energy, while the U.S. is spending 12 percent in American and China is spending 34 percent. Politicians are rethinking their positions by talking more about Nuclear energy rather than other sources of energy such as wind and biomass. Politicians believe that it is more feasible to sell the concept of a few nuclear power plants than thousands of wind-turbines across England's land and across its shorelines. It is time for England and the rest of the world to start taking R&D, innovation, and investment in renewable energy more seriously as an opportunity in a global downturn int he world economy.
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