In a radical and ambitious move towards energy independence, the city of Peterborough could be entirely powered by renewables in 20 years time.
Civic leaders want to create three renewable energy parks which would harness wind and solar energy in order to achieve this.
In 2010, Peterborough City Council adopted its Carbon Management Action Plan (CMAP) which outlined a model for how it intends to achieve an ambitious 35 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from 2008-09 levels by 2014.
This deadline is fast approaching, but the new renewable energy parks would cut the council's carbon output by around 57,000 tonnes – it currently stands at about 22,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Cumulatively, the combination of wind and solar energy could produce between 40MW and 106MW of energy.
Plans outline that the parks would be located on farmlands owned by City Council at Newborough Farm, America Farm and Morris Fen.
The plans have been met with some opposition from local farmers who currently work the land but the council has assured them that it will do "whatever it can to help".
Council leader Councillor Marco Cereste told peterboroughtoday.co.uk: "The aim is to make Peterborough entirely self-sufficient in energy. We will be the first city in the UK to do this.
"We want to counter rising energy costs for homes and businesses and to ensure the security of energy supplies for the city. You never know when someone will turn off the tap."
It is believed that the scheme would generate long-term net incomes of between £90 million and £137 million over a 20 year period.
There is still some way to go before any plans are given the green light and a council spokeswomen told the news provider: "It is anticipated that a planning application for the solar schemes will be submitted in December and that a second application for the wind schemes will be submitted in December next year."
Funding for this ambitious project would come from private investors and government grants.