Leading article: Go green, Mr Brown

Our children and grandchildren, looking back from a much warmer world, are likely to wonder why Britain was so slow to develop renewable sources of energy. It has been endowed by nature with the greatest resources in Europe - the best winds, waves and tides, far outweighing the sun's periodic reluctance to shine. It was also in the forefront of inventing ways to harness both the wind and the waves. Yet it has long had one of the worst records for exploiting them. Though things have improved a little in recent years, the proportion of our electricity generated from renewables - just 4 per cent - remains lamentable, compared with 15 per cent in the EU as a whole. Even France, famed for putting its eggs firmly in the nuclear basket, does more than three times as well.

The answer lies in the obsessive commitment of a generation of scientists and officials to nuclear power. In part this was born of idealism; this was the generation that had witnessed the birth of the atomic bomb and was determined to turn the destructive technology to beneficial purposes. In part it was rooted in obscurantism and obstruction; a "treacle layer" of officials in the Department of Trade and Industry and its predecessors seemed determined to stifle any alternative to the atom. It killed off, for example, research on wave power in the 1970s, which would have given Britain a world lead and could have already set us well on the road to combating climate change.

Four years ago, the Government seemed to shake off this baleful tradition, producing an energy White Paper that placed energy conservation and renewables where they belong - at the heart of any sensible strategy - while keeping the nuclear option open. Then, for a while, it seemed to be reverting to the old ways when Tony Blair - plumping wholescale for nuclear power - ordered a new White Paper to come up with the right answer. But, as he prepares to leave office, his attempt to turn the clock back has failed; the new document, to be published on Wednesday, will endorse energy efficiency and renewables even more strongly, while rightly continuing to keep nuclear power alive in case of need.

Proposals finally to build the Severn tidal barrage are an even more potent sign of the future. It is a very tempting project. There are predictable and regular tides, and the Severn Estuary is a massive resource, able to meet 5 per cent of Britain's electricity requirements at a single stroke. But some caution is due. It is a massively expensive project at some £14bn, possibly too much so for the City to digest. It will change the ecology of the Severn, probably falling foul of EU environmental directives. And, at best, it will not start generating power for at least a decade.

Alternative ways of exploiting the tides need to be examined just as vigorously. One is a series of lagoons in the Severn, starting in Swansea Bay, which preliminary studies suggest could take less long to build and yield more energy, without the same environmental damage. The tidal stream underwater windmills already being tried out off Devon also look immensely promising. Nor should Gordon Brown and his ministers fall into the trap of considering only "eye-catching" big projects. The greatest progress towards a truly sustainable energy future may be on a small scale, home by home, and roof by roof, as windmills and solar panels are installed. Tomorrow's planning White Paper will make this easier and may, in the long term, be as important as the energy White Paper in putting us on the path to a sustainable future.

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