Both sides will be making green arguments on Monday when Britain announces plans to dramatically change its planning rules and speed up projects large and small. Communities and Local Government Minister Ruth Kelly will present parliament with the Planning White Paper, hailing it as the most thorough overhaul of the planning system in decades, aimed at spurring development by ripping up red tape. The measures are expected to speed up the approval of nuclear power stations and wind farms which the government says are key parts of the plan to fight global warming by cutting back the need to burn fossil fuels that release carbon gases.

ACROSS Britain, cities are plunged into darkness. In London, the Underground grinds to a halt, leaving panicked commuters stranded in oppressively hot carriages. In office blocks, lifts stop operating and the air-conditioning shuts down. Employees swelter in stifling conditions. This is not the postapocalyptic vision of some film-maker, but a realistic scenario as Britain grapples with a looming energy crisis. The statistics are frightening. In only eight years, demand for energy could outstrip supply by 23% at peak times, according to a study by the consultant Logica CMG. The loss to the economy could be £108 billion each year.

This may be the moment, senior ministers say, to capitalise on one of Britain's greatest assets, the 45ft tide that races through the Severn estuary, making it the second best place in the world - after Canada's Bay of Fundy - to harness tidal energy. By building a barrage, they hope to be able to meet a large chunk of Britain's electricity needs from a single renewable, reliable source. It is just one of a number of clean energy technologies they want to employ to keep the lights on, while cutting back the pollution that causes global warming.

Nuclear power should be "part of the mix" of Britain's energy supplies in the future, Alistair Darling has said. An energy White Paper will be published on Wednesday - Tony Blair has already said he supports replacing Britain's ageing nuclear power stations. The Observer newspaper reported that his successor Gordon Brown will also support the plans this week. Trade and Industry Secretary Mr Darling told the BBC that renewable energy sources alone would not be sufficient....... "The trouble with renewables is they're very good in providing you with low carbon electricity generation, but of course on very hot days or very cold days, if the wind doesn't blow, then you would have a big problem. "That's where nuclear has provided a base load of electricity for many years now."

THE building of new nuclear power plants in Scotland has been effectively ruled out by one of the UK's leading electricity providers. British Energy has described Scotland as "the least attractive part of the UK" to base a new station following the election victory of the anti-nuclear power SNP.

Gordon Brown is to face down sceptics in his party and give the go-ahead for a new generation of nuclear power stations, which will be built across the country. In a move immediately condemned by environmental organisations, the Prime Minister-elect will give the green light to the plans that will show that he is backing Tony Blair's support of the nuclear industry. Boosted by a new poll, which shows Brown pulling ahead of David Cameron on the issue of competence to run the country, the Chancellor will signal his support this week for a dramatic renewal of the nuclear power programme that will see the building of up to eight new stations, possibly within 15 years.

THE leader of Scotland's engineering industry has fired a warning shot at new enterprise minister Jim Mather, warning that SNP policies could lead to job losses, threaten secure energy supplies and destabilise Scottish Enterprise.

Britain will next week set out plans for a major policy revamp to secure energy supplies and fight global warming, calling for new nuclear power plants and also giving business and individuals vital roles. The government will vow to rip up red tape delaying major infrastructure projects like roads, airports and power stations and promote a mix of low carbon technologies and energy sources. "I am determined that we should not become over-dependent on more and more imported oil and gas," Trade and Industry Minister Alastair Darling has said.

The building of a third nuclear power station on the Suffolk coast could be forced through as part of a major Government shake-up of the planning system, environmental campaigners warned last night. A White Paper is set to be released by the Government next week which is expected to outline plans to overhaul the planning process for new developments. The Government is likely to publish eight national statements of policy - relating to nuclear power plants, nuclear waste disposal plants, airports, motorways, waste incinerators, wind farms, ports and reservoirs - which will give the green light to site-specific projects considered to be of national importance.

A giant wind turbine proposed by Glyndebourne Productions Ltd on the Sussex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is being resisted by four of the leading national and regional countryside organisations. The Council for National Parks (CNP), the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), the Ramblers' Association (RA) and the South Downs Society (SDS) have formed a coalition because they believe that the 230 ft turbine will destroy the views of the precious landscape of the eastern part of the South Downs. All the organisations are in favour of appropriate renewable energy, but argue that great thought must be given to the type and size of renewable energy developed, particularly in special landscapes such as AONB's and National Parks.

On sea and land they are sprouting like one legged monsters with propellers. The "windmill", the vehicle for wind power, is becoming a more familiar sight as the government programme for encouraging faster development of renewable energy gathers momentum. They will become even more familiar, commonplace and controversial over the next decade. Wind power is set to make a bigger contribution to the supply of energy. The offshore wind programme alone could be delivering 9 per cent of electricity demand by 2020 on the basis of current plans. Overall the market for tidal and wave energy could be worth £4.2bn a year to the economy by 2050, according to estimates made by the Carbon Trust.

Members of action groups fighting controversial wind farm developments in Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion will travel to Cardiff this weekend to take part in a national anti-turbine protest. Rhos Garn Whilgarn Action Group and the Brechfa Forest Energy Action Group will be among the community groups marching through Cardiff Bay to the Assembly's Senedd home on Sunday.

.....according to the National Grid, in the period between October 2006 and February 2007 there were 17 days when output from the existing 1,632 windmills was less than ten per cent of capacity. During that period there were five days when output was less than five per cent and one day when it was only 2%. In the whole five months, the wind turbines were operating at only 35% efficiency.

Wind farm proposals for remote and scenic parts of Scotland are always controversial, but the public must now consider the issue of how best to transmit the extra electricity generated. A lot of power is to be generated in the sparsely populated and windy west of Scotland and then transmitted south to consumers. While wind farms may be unsightly to many and are considered to blight the landscape, proposed power pylons needed to carry hundreds of miles of overhead lines across hills and glens are potentially more harmful to the environment and tourism.

Britain's energy plans have been thrown into disarray by ambitious European Union targets, the BBC has learned. Ministers had intended to aim to produce 20% of Britain's electricity from renewable sources by 2020. But a recently-published EU strategy demands that 20% of all energy should come from such sources - four times more renewables than the UK intended. BBC environment correspondent Roger Harrabin said a forthcoming white paper will cover over the policy gaps. Exact share The government will flesh out more detailed ideas when the legislation is proposed in the autumn, our correspondent said. The UK's exact share of the EU's energy obligation is still being debated. Renewable energy sources include wind and solar power and it is hoped that promoting them will help cut greenhouse gases. Under the EU's strategy, these will have to meet 20% of all energy, including fuel for cars, heating, domestic aviation and industry.

SCOTLAND'S cities face an uphill battle to cut their carbon emissions and meet government targets, a report claimed yesterday. In theory, Edinburgh would need to reduce the number of cars on the road by more than a third, Glasgow would have to erect more than 1,300 wind turbines and every building in Inverness would need to be carbon neutral if the country is to reach the recently-set government targets of a 60 per cent cut by 2050. The suggestions are made in a new report by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in Scotland (RICS) which looked at aspects of climate change across the country. The report, City Climate Challenge: your city, your responsibility, examines the key challenges for Edinburgh's transport network, Glasgow's energy supply and energy demand in Inverness.

People living close to the site of a proposed major wind farm in North Sutherland have voted to oppose the development. Two-thirds of those who responded in a local ballot were against Scottish and Southern Energy's 35-turbine venture on the north side of Strathy Forest. The poll was undertaken by Strathy and Armadale Community Council, which will now be lodging a formal objection. Officials from the power company travelled north to spell out their plans at a public meeting in the village hall last month. Several local people then claimed the turbines - which would stand 110 metres to the tip of their blades - would desecrate the area. The ballot revealed 68 per cent against the £90 million development and 32 per cent in favour. A total of 103 households were surveyed, with just over 60 per cent responding. Thirty-five people voted for and 78 against.

Gordon Brown will unveil tax breaks for households generating their own green energy as he uses his eleventh budget to challenge the environmental credentials of David Cameron's Conservatives by proposing incentives to tackle climate change. Whitehall sources said last night that Mr Brown is likely to encourage people to install solar panels, wind turbines and other carbon-free sources of energy in their homes by exempting from income tax any money made by selling excess power back to the national grid.

Ministers are planning to boost efforts to establish large numbers of windfarms off the Westcountry coast in a bid to massively increase the amount of renewable energy that the region produces. Rules for licensing offshore turbines and tidal power generators are expected to be relaxed as part of a series of measures to tackle the threat of global warming. But the moves will be coupled with extra protection for the most endangered marine habitats, with up to 90 "no-go" zones across the country. Falmouth Bay in Cornwall and Lyme Bay in Devon are among the areas which could be considered for the new protections.

Britain published new plans on Thursday to streamline the development of offshore wind, wave and tidal power projects, while still protecting wildlife, as part of the fight against global warming. While onshore wind farms are sprouting up all over Britain in the race to develop clean sources of power, offshore wind - which is much more expensive - is only now starting to develop. Wave and tidal are even further behind. "Protecting our seas is one of the biggest environmental challenges after climate change and the two are closely linked," Environment Secretary, David Miliband said. "The proposals in the Marine Bill White Paper are a first for the UK and would raise planning for the management and protection of our seas to a world-leading level." The white paper policy document, which is open for public consultation until June, proposes a strategic marine planning system to set national objectives and priorities for offshore developments.