UK Government's Renewable Energy Strategy

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband has announced a payments scheme for microgeneration. He claims that the project will "create the clean energy of the future". This is influenced by an agreement at the G8 summit in Italy, with all signatories agreeing to limit global temperature increase to no more than 2C above 1900 levels.

My Miliband also nodded towards community projects: "Individuals and communities can both play their part in the kind of clean energy revolution that we need." Nineteen European countries already offer cashback schemes for clean energy, so the UK is playing catch-up. Schemes typically pay a guaranteed fixed price for every kilowatt of energy they produce.

The UK government has pledged to increase the proportion of green electricity to 15% within the next 12 years.

For a full statement by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, see Britain's green revolution will power economic recovery in the Observer.