According to the Trust’s new study wind and wave generation alone could provide at least 15% of the total carbon savings required to meet our 2050 targets.

Carbon Trust chief executive Tom Delay says a new strategy is required if the UK is to transform itself into a global hub of low-carbon innovation. The UK must “make smart investments through greater technology prioritisation and move away from technology neutrality,” says the Carbon Trust.

If it applies this approach, the Carbon Trust estimates the UK could capture 45% of the global offshore wind market by 2020, delivering £65 billion of net economic value and some 220,000 total jobs by 2050.

To achieve this, the UK would need a comprehensive package of technology focused support including investment of up to £600 million in R&D, removal of regulatory barriers and new incentive mechanisms to accelerate deployment of offshore wind power around our coasts.

Two thirds of the economic value that would be generated would come from the low-carbon technology export market.

The Carbon Trust says that with 25% of the world's wave technologies already being developed in the UK, Britain could be the "natural owner" of the global wave power market, generating revenues worth £2 billion per year by 2050 and up to 16,000 direct jobs. But it warns that to generate maximum economic benefit, the UK must focus on addressing funding gaps in the wave sector.

Tom Delay, Chief Executive of the Carbon Trust said: "These technologies are not green 'nice to haves' but are critical to the economic recovery of the UK."

As part of the 'Clean Tech Revolution' campaign, the Carbon Trust will be launching 15 new R&D and technology acceleration projects in 2009, in addition to over 40 projects that are already in place.

”The UK has an enormous untapped supply of clean, green renewable energy and a world class engineering industry well placed to develop it,” said Greenpeace Executive Director John Sauven.

“Our economy can also save billions in energy costs by investing in an unprecedented energy efficiency drive. We need nothing less than to make the UK a global leader of the green industrial revolution.”