25 July 2007
An influential research group has released a controversial report claiming that green energy measures are likely to cause damage to the environment in the UK.
Jesse Ausubel, Professor of Environmental Science and Director of the Human Environment programme at Rockefeller University in New York, has published research which suggests that - far from making the UK greener - renewable energy would take up so much of the countryside that it would be bad for the environment.
Professor Ausubel assessed renewable energy by comparing the amount of energy each plant or wind farm would produce per metre is occupies, with the development and emissions needed to keep it running.
"When most people think of renewables and their impact, they're mistaking pleasant landscaping with what would be a massive industrial transformation of the landscape," he said.
"Renewable sources of energy are incredibly invasive and aggressive with regard to nature.
"Renewables may be renewable, but they are not green," the Professor added.
Not only controversial, the report will no doubt spark a debate over whether we can afford to continue being green in the interests of having a constant source of fuel.
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