The Committee on Climate Change said that renewable energy should make a major contribution to decarbonising the UK economy over the next decades.

The conclusions are set out in the Committee's Renewable Energy Review which was requested under the Coalition Agreement.

The review concludes that a renewable energy share of around 30% by 2030 would be appropriate, with scope for a higher share depending on the extent to which renewable technology costs fall and possible constraints on deployment of low-carbon alternatives.

It highlights a range of promising renewable energy technologies which could in future become competitive, including electricity generation from wind and marine, air and ground source heat pumps and the use of bioenergy for heat generation.

It sets out options for addressing intermittency of renewable power generation, including demand-side flexibility, interconnection, and back-up generation, which could support a very high share of renewables in power.

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Analysis in the report highlights the importance of other low-carbon technologies for power generation, most notably nuclear and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), which have a potentially major role to play in required power sector decarbonisation to 2030.

The review concludes that nuclear generation in particular appears likely to be the most cost-effective form of low-carbon power generation in the 2020s, justifying significant investment if safety concerns can be addressed. Gas CCS may be particularly useful in providing flexible generation.

Given significant uncertainties over future developments, the review recommends that the Government should adopt a portfolio approach to technology development. This should cover both renewable generation and other low-carbon technologies.

The review sets out an illustrative scenario where 40% of our electricity comes from renewables, 40% from nuclear, 15% from coal an gas with CCS and less than 10% from unabated gas.

To underpin the portfolio approach, the review argues that the Government should make clear commitments to support less mature renewable technologies such as offshore wind and marine generation through the 2020s. These commitments should then be implemented under new electricity market arrangements.

Chair of the Committee on Climate Change, Lord Adair Turner said: "Our analysis shows that renewable energy technologies are very promising, and have an important role to play in helping to meet the UK’s carbon budgets and 2050 target, alongside other low-carbon technologies such as nuclear and CCS. The focus now should be creating a stable investment climate for renewables, making longer-term commitments to support less mature technologies, and putting in place incentives to deliver significantly increased investment in renewable power and heat generation required over the next decade."

(CD/KMcA)