Conservatives plan £300m 'green revolution'

Conservative Party leader David Cameron has unveiled a £300 million plan to encourage homeowners, small businesses, schools and hospitals to generate their own energy from renewable sources.

Outlining the energy policy for a future Conservative government, Mr Cameron advocated the ending of grants for residents and business owners who install wind turbines, solar panels or combined heat and power generators on their property.

Instead, he called for guaranteed prices for energy produced by householders via a system of feed-in tariffs, allowing people to sell surplus electricity they produce through renewable sources back to the national grid.

"In the face of the enormous challenge of manmade climate change, 'business as usual' or the incremental adaptation of our economy is not enough," Mr Cameron said.

"Britain needs dynamic industrial change if it is going to compete and win in the new low carbon era," he added.

A system similar to that proposed by Mr Cameron is currently in use in Germany, where it has greatly increased the take-up of renewable energy, according to environmental campaigning group Greenpeace.