Renewable energy strategy under fire from MPs

The UK is making "unacceptably slow" progress towards its renewable energy targets, a committee of MPs says. The Committee of Public Accounts also said that there was no clear understanding of the cost and success of some alternative technologies. It said the Department of Energy and Climate Change needed "a greater sense of urgency and purpose". Energy Secretary Chris Huhne said the coalition government was determined to "deliver on the low-carbon economy".During its hearings, the committee was told that the UK would miss its target to supply 10% of electricity from renewable sources by the end of 2010. The report, Funding the Development of Renewable Energy Technologies, said the Energy Department and its predecessors had not done enough to address the slow progress. The chair of the committee, Margaret Hodge, said: "Given the urgency and importance of the issue, progress in meeting renewable energy targets has been unacceptably slow over the last decade."The current Energy Secretary, Chris Huhne, said his department was determined to put it right. "It will be a huge challenge but the coalition is determined to move beyond promises and actually deliver on the low-carbon economy," he said. Unprepared  Ms Hodge said that some £180m of ...