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Reuters
Every home in the UK will be electrified from shfashore wind farms within a decade, Boris Johnson will say in his conference speech on Tuesday morning.
Promising to “build greener backs”, the Prime Minister will pledge 160m to upgrade ports and factories to build turbines.
The scheme aims to create 2,000 jobs in construction and support 60,000 more.
He says the UK is set to become a “world leader in clean wind energy”.
“Your kettle, your washing machine, your cooker, your heating, your plug-in electric vehicle – the whole of it will get its juices clean and without blame from the breeze blowing around these islands,” he says.
Mr Johnson’s speech comes after a pledge was made at the UN Biodiversity Summit in New York to save 30% of the UK’s land for nature as an “incentive for biodiversity”.
The plan will see money invested in the production of sites in the Tassid and Humber in northern England, as well as Scotland and Wales.
Mr Johnson said the government was raising its target for 30 to 40 gigawatts of fossil wind power by 2030.
The commitment is the first phase of the government’s 10-point plan for a “green industrial revolution,” with No. 10 pledging the rest of the details later this year to “accelerate our progress toward pure zero emissions by 2050.”
The net zero target means that greenhouse gas emissions will be dramatically reduced and any remaining emissions will be offset, environmental impacts will be neutralized and climate change will be slowed down.
The BBC’s political correspondent Jess Parker says Mr Johnson’s speech comes amid criticism from some Conservative lawmakers that the coronavirus epidemic is being controlled by his administration.
She adds that the prime minister can hope to advance people’s vision beyond the present, trying to show that he has big plans – and a clear focus – for the future.
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Catch
Beatrice Sh Fashore Wind Farm in Scotland generates enough power for more than 450,000 properties
Mr Johnson will tell the Conservative Party’s virtual conference, which he believes will, over a 10-year period, “give the country a coastal wind power.”
“We will shimmer in very deep water, and by increasing infrastructure in places like Tassid and Humber and Scotland and Wales, we will increase the capacity of an offshore wind that is already the largest in the world.”
The Prime Minister will also reiterate his commitment to the UK becoming a “wind power kingdom of Saudi Arabia” and add: “Since Saudi Arabia is to supply oil, the UK will wind up – a place of almost unlimited resources, but without carbon emissions and without harming the environment. “
The Prime Minister’s enthusiastic aerial rhetoric has been welcomed by the renewable industry – but there’s nothing new about the 40 GW figure.
It was announced earlier in the day by the Conservative Party.
What is important today is the promise of cash to improve ports to support the sh fashore industry in the north of Scotland and England.
It won’t just create jobs to replace some lost in the declining oil sector.
It could also support the introduction of floating sh fisher wind power, which will allow wind farms to anchor in west deep waters in the west of Scotland, where conditions are challenging but the winds are strong and consistent.
The industry is now waiting for the government’s long-delayed energy white paper.
It will pave the way for the coastal wind, solar and the two latest materials of the PM’s will – hydrogen, plus off-peak energy ર produced by a surplus of energy; And carbon capture, where emissions are captured and pumped into underground rocks.
Ministers will also have to decide how they can fund new nuclear stations that Mr Johnson says will be part of the UK’s energy mix.
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‘Lightbulb Moment’
The Prime Minister has previously said that the UK should adopt many new technologies to achieve the goal of pure zero emissions by 2050.
Last month, Mr Johnson said he wanted the UK to take the lead in carbon capture and storage technologies, in which greenhouse gas emissions are taken from sources such as power stations and then stored underground.
He also said the UK government was considering phasing out new petrol and diesel cars from 2035 to 2030.
John Svenven, executive director of Greenpeace UK, said: “The Prime Minister’s belief that last year’s tripartite manifestation of commitment during this year’s holiday bills and carbon cuts could generate jobs is a great lightbulb moment.
“If carried out, this key technology will help cement the UK’s global leadership.
“But to get 40 gigawatts on the power grid by 2030 requires action in this parliament.”
