The UK Labour party has unveiled plans for at least 90% of electricity demand to be met by renewables and low-carbon power by 2030 as part of net zero carbon emission efforts.
In its ‘Putting the UK on a path to zero carbon energy’ report, which includes 30 recommendations for climate action by 2030, the party sets out measures to triple clean power by the end of the next decade.
The report recommends boosting offshore wind capacity to 52GW by 2030, onshore wind to 30GW, solar PV to 35GW, tidal to 3GW, 2.5GW of carbon capture and storage plus an additional 500MW of hydro.
Labour’s report assumes current levels of nuclear and biomass generation are maintained by 2030.
“If these (and other) recommendations are implemented immediately, the UK can be on track to deliver a 77% reduction in energy emissions by 2030 compared to 2010 levels,” the report said.
“If implementation goes very well by the mid-2020s, the UK could even be on track for a zero-carbon energy system sometime in the 2030s,” the report adds.
Greenpeace UK said the “bold report” showed the scale of investment required to deal with climate change.
“The report is right to say that we can’t hit net zero if we don’t immediately get on with delivering lots more renewable power,” added head of politics Rebecca Newsom.
Energy union GMB said Labour’s report is a “serious attempt” to tackle climate change.