A leading energy expert, Prof Peter Smith, said Britain could generate almost half of its power by installing micro-generation units on roofs, outbuildings and in back gardens around the country.
"The technology already exists for householders to g
enerate their own power and sell what's left over to the national grid but the biggest problem with micro-generation units available is they are still to expensive and the payback time is too long to make the outlay worthwhile," he told the conference in Norwich.
"What we need is for the Government to provide the right grants and incentives so that it's an attractive proposition – as is already beginning to happen, for example, in Germany."
Homes and offices could become self-sufficient in energy with power to spare by combining the latest micro-generation products.
These include roof mounted micro-wind turbines, photovoltaic panels to generate electricity from sunlight, solar-thermal panels which use the sun's energy to heat water and ground-source heat pumps, which extract heat and cold air from the soil to provide natural air conditioning.
Prof Smith, a renewable energy specialist at Leeds Metropolitan University, said Britain had only about 10 years to implement radical changes in energy policies – or risk an energy crisis and possible catastrophic climate change.
Plans to build 10 new nuclear power stations were fraught with danger and went directly against advice from the Government's own scientific advisers, he said.
He said apart from encouraging home micro-power generation, Britain should be investing heavily in tidal power, a potentially huge source of clean energy which so far had been largely overlooked.
Prof Smith added: "We have seen quantum improvements in technology and there's no reason why Britain should not become carbon neutral by the end of the century.
"But to do that we have to change the planning and incentive strategy.
"It's no good leaving it to market forces because they are only interested in the short term – the Government has got to step in," he added.
