He told ministers from 23 countries gathered at the summit in London that cleaner energy sources are needed to meet rising global demand, however, government and business would need to work together to drive costs down.
He said: “There are huge challenges facing governments across the world today, and one of the most important of all is how we meet our growing energy demands in a way that protects our planet for our children and grandchildren.
“With global demand forecast to increase by more than 40 per cent in the next two decades, we urgently need a more diverse, cleaner mix of energy sources that will give us energy security without causing irreparable damage to the planet.
“Our commitment and investment in renewable energy has helped to make renewable energy possible. Now we have a different challenge. We need to make it financially sustainable.”
Announced in conjunction with the prime minister’s speech is the scale of recent investment in renewables in the UK. He said that, between April 2011 and February 2012, announcements had been made to the value of £4.7bn supporting 15,000 jobs.
A new partnership will be formed with an interest in developing the North Sea’s renewable energy potential. More than 20 firms have already signed up, under the provisional name Norstec, which will gather in June to discuss how the partnership will operate.
In the offshore wind sector, the Crown Estate and the Cost Reduction Task Force of businesses is to take a detailed look at reducing costs to £100/MWh by 2020.
The Bioenergy strategy, published today by DECC, sets out a framework for deploying biomass to meet up to 12 percent of the UK’s primary energy needs by 2050.
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