Ministers will on Wednesday announce plans to slash UK carbon emissions as well as unveiling measures on green transport as they publish the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan White Paper.

The Government has come under fire for the impact renewables could have on people's fuel bills in the future.

On Wednesday Mr Miliband 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.

"We are going to minimise the costs as much as possible, but it is true there is not a low-cost energy future out there.

"There is a high-carbon, high-cost future, because we see big growth in demand from China and India which will drive up prices.

"We could become more and more dependent on that and quite insecure in our energy. Or we can go for more home-grown energy which will also cost, but I actually think the costs will be less in the end, because the costs of climate change if we don't stop it are going to be enormous.

"I think it is the right thing to do. We have got to plan for it and make it as fair as we can."

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.

Mr Miliband said the plans could generate 400,000 new "green" jobs by 2015.

The announcement comes as the UK's only turbine manufacturer, Vestas on the Isle of Wight, is shutting down with the loss of around 600 jobs.

"We need a lot more on-shore wind turbines and that is difficult and part of my job is to persuade people that the biggest threat to the countryside is not wind turbines," said Mr Miliband.

"Of course, there can be local objections which are legitimate, but the biggest threat to the countryside is climate change, because the beautiful British countryside will be destroyed if we don't stop dangerous climate change."

The UK has a series of challenging legally-binding 'carbon budgets', which require a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 34 per cent by 2020 and at least 80 per cent by 2050, and a EU target of meeting 15 per cent 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.