Forty per cent of electricity will come from low carbon sources of renewables, nuclear and clean coal by the end of the next decade, says energy secretary

Tackling climate change will require “comprehensive changes” in the UK’s economy and society, energy secretary Ed Miliband said today as he unveiled plans to slash emissions from power, transport, agriculture and industry.

Laying out how the UK would meet its legally binding targets to cut emissions by 34% by 2020, he said 40% of electricity would come from low carbon sources including renewables, nuclear and clean coal by the end of the next decade.

Ministers were today publishing measures on how they propose to shift the UK to a low carbon economy, including a green transport strategy, energy efficiency measures and attempts to boost the number of environmental industry jobs.

Miliband told MPs that seven million homes would be given pay-as-you-save energy makeovers, with grants which would paid back through savings in energy bills.

And 1.5m households would be supported to produce their own clean energy through a “feed-in tariffs” system which will pay them for the electricity they generate, he said.

Ministers will also set out measures on low-carbon transport and for ensuring that the UK benefits from thousands of potential “green jobs” as they publish the UK low carbon transition plan white paper.

But the government has come under fire for the impact of increasing renewables in the energy mix could have on people’s fuel bills in the future.

The UK has committed to the world’s first legally binding “carbon budgets”, which require a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 34% by 2020 and at least 80% by 2050, and a EU target of meeting 15% of all energy needs from renewables by 2020.

Measures to meet the goals will cover a wide range of sectors including power, transport, homes, workplaces and agriculture.

Among the schemes to reduce climate emissions to be launched today will be a “pay as you save” programme for homeowners to receive loans to insulate their homes, with the money repaid from savings on energy bills.

And people who install small-scale renewables such as solar panels or wind turbines will be paid, through a “feed-in tariffs” programme, for the electricity they generate.

There are also plans to increase large-scale renewable energy and in particular wind — with proposals for some 4,000 new onshore turbines and a further 3,000 offshore.

The government’s consultation on renewable energy last year estimated meeting targets to increase green power could lead to a rise in fuel bills of almost £230 a year by the end of the next decade.

But officials say revised estimates will show the costs of a switch to green energy will be lower than that.

Ahead of the publication of a renewable energy strategy launched alongside the white paper today, the energy and climate change secretary, Ed Miliband, warned there would be “upward pressures” on prices whatever the energy mix.

Miliband said today’s document set out a “route map” towards achieving the 2020 targets for CO2 cuts, which he said could generate 400,000 new “green” jobs by 2015.

He acknowledged that low-carbon energy would be more expensive for consumers, but pointed out that high-carbon fuels like coal and gas could also be expected to get more expensive because of increased demand from China and India.

He told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: “What we are trying to do is to set out not simply targets for 2020 – which have been set – but a route map to get there: How we are going to take the carbon dioxide out of the way we travel, our homes and the way we provide energy.”

Continuing on the high-carbon route would force the UK to import more fossil fuels, leaving the country exposed to oil price fluctuations and conflict elsewhere in the world, while there would also be costs in shifting to a low-carbon energy mix, he said.

The Tories accused ministers of failing to address the looming energy crunch over the past 12 years, leading to a “vacuum where there should have been an energy policy”.

Householders faced rising bills as the UK became increasingly reliant on costly imported gas, because it had one of the lowest renewable sectors in Europe and some of the least energy efficient buildings, shadow energy secretary Greg Clark warned.

“The scramble to catch up with the rest of Europe will now be more costly than if action to reduce reliance on oil and gas had been taken in a planned way over the last ten years,” he said.

Environmentalists remain concerned about the ambition of the white paper, which lays out how the UK will meet the targets for emissions cuts recommended by the Committe on Climate Change and made legally binding by the Climate Change Act.

While the committee, set up to advise ministers on cutting emissions, recommended almost entirely de-carbonising the electricity sector by 2030, green campaigners fear the government will not go nearly as far as that.

Alongside renewables, new nuclear build and new coal fired power stations – as long as a proportion of any new plant is fitted with technology to capture and permanently store carbon emissions – will form part of the energy mix in the future.

Greenpeace executive director John Sauven said: “The government must prioritise renewable energy and energy efficiency over everything else in the sector. If they do this, Britain could lead the fight against climate change, whilst providing hundreds of thousands of jobs. Anything less would be a failure.

Other environmental campaigners said they were concerned that sufficient cuts would not be made in the UK, but “offset” by paying for reductions abroad.

One of the most controversial elements of plans to boost renewables in the UK are proposals for large-scale projects to harness the tidal power of the Severn estuary.

The government is expected to confirm a shortlist of five schemes for the Severn today, including proposals for multi-billion pound 10-mile barrage across the estuary.

As part of today’s announcement the government will also be publishing a transport carbon-reduction strategy.

The government has already announced several initiatives, including moves to make electric cars more affordable by providing help worth £2,000 to £5,000 towards buying the first electric and plug in hybrid cars when they hit the showrooms from 2011.

Last month the government announced eight new low-carbon vehicle projects were being launched with some of the schemes involving members of the public being invited to test out electric cars.