Councils in the UK have been encouraged to get involved with green power initiatives, which could create employment opportunities for workers on renewable energy courses.

The advice was featured in a report by the New Local Government Network, which highlighted the level of subsidies currently available for organisations that install microgeneration devices.

Tradesmen who have completed renewable energy courses could soon be brought in by local authorities, as the thinktank called on councils to assess the suitability of their neighbourhoods for such machinery.

Luke Hildyard, author of the document, highlighted how grants from the government could prove to be vital for certain organisations in the context of widespread public spending cuts.

He added: "We estimate that the feed-in tariff (FIT) and the renewable heat incentive could represent an estimated