The key English political parties have now launched their manifestos in advance of the elections on May 6th.

All parties commit to a substantial proportion of the UK’s energy coming from renewable sources in the near future; however the details of measures to facilitate this move are not yet clear.

Labour’s ‘Future Fair for All‘ manifesto says the party would create 400,000 green collar jobs and move towards a ‘zero waste’ Britain banning recyclable materials from landfill. They are committed to generating 15% of our energy from renewable sources by 2020 and say energy efficiency will be enhanced by a smart grid using new information technologies.

Labour are pushing for more wind energy, tidal, marine, solar and sustainable bio-energy and say they will make a decision early in the next Parliament on the feasibility of alternative options for the Severn Barrage. Labour criticise the Tories handling of environmental issues as being “all about image”. They believe that Conservative proposals will lead to a failure to deliver on renewable energy targets, putting Labour’s low-carbon revolution in jeopardy.

The Conservatives ‘Invitation to Join the Government of Britain‘ manifesto says that the low carbon economy provides exciting opportunities for British businesses. They say Britain has had no clear energy policy for thirteen years (I guess this ignores the Energy Policy then….). They want to create a Green Investment Bank which will “draw together money currently divided across existing government initiatives, leveraging private sector capital finance for new green technology start ups“.

The Tories want to reform the Climate Change Levy to provide a floor price for carbon and increase environmental taxes. They – like Labour also like the idea of nuclear, wind, clean coal, marine energy, CHP, biogas and Smart Grid. A new “Green Deal” is proposed to loan people money for energy efficiency improvements. They want to allow communities that host renewable energy projects like wind farms to keep the additional business rates they generate for six years.

The Lib Dems ‘Change that Works For You‘ manifesto outlines plans for replacing per- passenger air passenger duty with per-plane duty ensuring that air freight is taxed for the first time. The Lib Dems also like the idea of a Green Investment/ Infrastructure Bank to direct private finance to essential projects such as new rail services and green energy.

Lib Dems want to invest £400m in refurbishing shipyards in the North of England and Scotland so that they can manufacture offshore wind turbines and marine energy equipment. They are also offering an “Eco Cash-Back” scheme giving householders £400 if they install double glazing, replace an old boiler or install micro-gen. A loan scheme for insulation and other home energy improvements is proposed. They also want to put in place a higher feed in tariff for micro-generation. The Lib Dems want to encourage community -owned renewable energy schemes where local people benefit from the power produced.

Lib dems are going for a 40% clean electricity target by 2020 rising to 100 % by 2050! Three quarters should come from offshore renewable sources…. They are going to deliver the European Supergrid and reject a new generation of nuclear power stations.

The Green Party wants to remove carbon intensive activity all together, then reduce demand, then switch to renewables according to its manifesto ‘Fair is Worth Fighting For‘. They want a fuel duty escalator and carbon quotas.

The Green Party would introduce “a massive programme of direct Government investment in large scale wind and other renewable generation and investment in the grid, spending as much as £29bn over the Parliament and creating 80,000 jobs in installation and equipment manufacture“. Nuclear power, coal and large scale cultivation of biofuels – especially in poor countries are out under the Green’s proposals. Renewable heat, CHP and biogas are in.

The Greens are the only party to explicitly urge stronger planning policies in their manifesto for all renewable technologies – onshore wind, tidal, wave, solar and geothermal energy schemes. They would “enlarge and develop renewable energy feed-in tariffs paying premium rates for large and small producers of renewable energy. They also want to support cross continent grid infrastructure such as the European supergrid.

Despite climate change and renewable energy making it into all of the main parties manifestos, it is still not considered by the British public as important as other issues such as immigration. This was demonstrated by last night’s so called party political TV debate where Gordon Brown Nick Clegg, David Cameron presented their key proposals. Climate change was not an issue subject to discussion.