Brian Wilson

The government has called for a national debate on the role of both nuclear and green energy in meeting Britain's future power needs.

The Department for Trade and Industry has invited responses to Tony Blair's Performance and Innovation Unit report which backed a greater role for renewable energy sources and further debate on the future role of nuclear power.

Ministers are urging responses ahead of a draft white paper on energy policy planned for end of the year.

"We want to know how people think energy policy should develop. Everyone has a stake in this," said energy minister Brian Wilson.

He pledged that the consultation process would be "as open and inclusive as possible".

Work on the review will be undertaken by officials from across government, including the DTI, DEFRA, the DTLR, and the Foreign Office.

The government will be posting submissions to the review onto the DTI's website.

The prime minister has already added his voice to those calling for a national discussion, saying he hoped the PIU report would prompt a "thorough debate" on energy in the UK.

The report was commissioned in the wake of a US energy crisis and focussed on the likely need for Britain to meet stricter agreements on reducing greenhouse gases in future years, as well as achieving a secure and well-balanced mix of energy provision.

Environmental targets "will not be achieved through commercial decisions alone", warned the study.

It called for the target for the proportion of electricity generated from renewable sources to be increased to 20 per cent by 2020, and for institutional barriers to renewable and combined heat and power investments to be addressed urgently.

But most controversially, the review left the door open to a new generation of nuclear power plants.

"Because nuclear is a mature technology within a well established global industry, there is no current case for further government support," said the PIU report.

"But, given that the government sets the framework within which commercial choices are made, it could, as with renewables, make it more likely that a private sector scheme would succeed."

The report also warned the public to be "in no doubt about the political commitment behind the proposals".

"Changes like these could not be produced as a result of quick technical fixes: technology has a large part to play, but just as important are changes in attitudes and assumptions," it said.

"It would be wrong to imagine that everything can be 'win-win': there are some hard choices and there will be losers as well as winners. For this reason the government needs to take the issues to the public soon."

On nuclear power it said that the debate was "difficult and polarised", while there would be "an equivalent debate about the future contribution of renewable resources".

The report also said that the government should understand the concerns of the general public,

"The government has a duty to explain its own approach to the public, but it also needs to gather feedback," it said.

"However, this is only the beginning. And the consultation carried out in the aftermath of this review should be seen as only the beginning of a longer programme of public engagement in energy issues."