What the experts say

Green franchise opportunities - important facts, views & predictions

See what the industry experts, government bodies and national media are saying about the future growth of the green economy.

The Green Economy driving forces

 

‘Energy Minister Charles Hendry set out his hopes for a “prosperous 2012” in the oil and gas sector, as he awarded 46 new licences to explore for hydrocarbons in the North Sea. These awards were made as part of the 26th offshore oil and gas licensing round, which was originally announced in October 2010. This licensing round awarded 144 licences but held back a number of blocks from award due to the need for further assessment on Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs).

Charles Hendry, Minister for Energy, said:

Oil and gas remains crucial to the UK economy — contributing around 2% to the country’s GDP. Our innovative licensing system continues to make the UK one of the most attractive places to do business.

These further licences have been subject to rigorous examination, and we are now satisfied that initial exploration can go ahead.

These continued high levels of interest, and the award today of these licences, gives me yet more reason to be optimistic for a prosperous 2012 for the UK oil and gas sector.’
Charles Hendry - Energy Minister, January 2012

‘Chris Huhne has revealed more evidence of the economic benefits of renewable energy as he reaffirmed the coalitions commitment to meeting renewable energy targets. This came as the UK published an update on progress to source 15% of all energy from renewable sources by 2020.’
Department of Energy and Climate Change - January 2012

‘Under the Climate Change Act, the Government has to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 34 per cent on 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 per cent by 2050. To meet these targets, between 400,000 and 1.8 million homes a year will have to be upgraded between now and 2050 at an estimated cost of between £5 billion and £15 billion a year. This is a massive project for the Government and will inevitably lead to a large-scale increase in employment within the green economy.’
Greenwise, 1st July 2010

As part of the low carbon transition plan announced by the Government, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband, said up to 400,000 new 'green-collar' jobs would be created by 2015.
Daily Mail, 24th July 2009

‘The UK is currently lagging far behind its European neighbours in terms of green jobs. In order to meet our future legal requirements the Government must address the skills gap.’
Green Party, September 2008

The new coalition government promised a raft of green initiatives in yesterday's Queen's speech that will see a radical overhaul of the country's housing stock and loans to allow more households to invest in measures such as solar panels.

Promising a new energy bill in the next parliament, the new government, led by David Cameron, wants to create a green investment bank that would loan individual households the money to invest in carbon-reducing measures, including insulation.
Guardian.co.uk, 26th May 2010

In a statement issued yesterday, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said the Green Deal "is expected to be available in late 2012".

The Government has said little officially since taking office about timelines for introducing the Green Deal and some reports have suggested that it could start as early as next year.

One reason for the delay could be the sheer scale of the roll out of such a scheme, which is expected to require energy audits to be completed in hundreds and thousands of homes up and down the country. Banks are also expected to get involved, providing financing packages to homeowners.
BBC, 30th June 2010

‘In the UK this sector was valued at £106.5bn, making it the world's sixth largest low-carbon and environmental economy, with 3.5% of global market share.

The report went on to forecast up to an additional 400,000 jobs over the next eight years, many of these in the renewable energy and new low-carbon industries. Just taking these sectors alone, the market value of low-carbon technology and services could be £127bn in 2014/15, employing 1.04 million people.’
Guardian.co.uk, November 2009

‘after assessing a host of other statistics and reports, I think it's safe to forecast a far-reaching and broad-based green jobs revolution over the next decade.’
GreenTechMedia, 7th July 2010

‘We recommend that the Government immediately and substantially increases the scale and speed of its programmes to improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings, and make this the UK’s number one priority for green fiscal stimulus.’
House of Commons - Environmental Audit Committee, 9th March 2010

In the midst of the global economic crisis, the UNEP United Nations Environment Program called for a global Green New Deal according to which governments were encouraged to support its economic transformation to a greener economy.

Green economy includes green energy generation based on renewable energy to substitute for fossil fuels and energy conservation for efficient energy use. The green economy is considered being able to both create green jobs, ensure real, sustainable economic growth, and prevent environmental pollution, global warming, resource depletion, and environmental degradation.
Wikipedia, March 2010

For more information about the future of the renewable energy industry, and why we think that green franchise opportunities are an exciting prospect, look at the Guardian’s Renewable Energy FAQs

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