Isra-Mart srl:Your chance to be Chris Huhne

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Many of us may suspect we would make better decisions than the government, given the opportunity. But would we really be able to make the difficult choices required to cut the UK's emissions and enhance its energy security? Now a new online simulation tool developed by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) gives the public the chance to find out.

The new web site, called My2050, gives users the opportunity to make many of the decisions currently filling energy and climate change secretary Chris Huhne's in-tray – namely, how to reduce carbon emissions 80 per cent by 2050 without leaving the nation prone to blackouts.

The government set out its own vision on how to meet long-term emissions and energy security goals last year, but the new tool provides the opportunity for interested parties to repeat the exercise.

A quick test of the pre-release version of the site undertaken by BusinessGreen only served to highlight how difficult it will be to deliver a secure, low-carbon energy mix.

For example, ramping up wind power, biofuels and nuclear capacity while cutting oil and gas, supplying half of domestic heat using electricity, and ensuring three quarters of homes have additional insulation only effects an emissions cut of 70 per cent.

Moves to increase public transport and promote low-carbon vehicles so that 80 per cent of cars are either electric or hydrogen powered still left the UK two per cent short of its target. Only moving to fully electrified transport shifted the modelled scenario so that the 80 per cent target was achieved.

DECC hopes that the application, along with an updated version of its more technical cousin, the 2050 Calculator, will fuel discussion and public interest in future energy policy.

Launching My2050, Huhne said the application showed there was "no silver bullet solution to the UK's energy future".

"This project is all about getting to grips with the hard choices and trade-offs which need to be made, choices which will affect our homes, communities and the way we travel," he added. "We can't afford to leave it until tomorrow – so get involved today."