Can Suffolk be green and still an attractive place to live?

But what will be required to really generate and distribute the amount of renewable power we need in this country?

And what impact will that have on our countryside, our coastlines and even our views out to sea?

Do wind turbines damage the seascape? (Image: Paul Geater)

Are we prepared to accept the changes that such a huge shift in power will require?

I've been speaking to some of those who are making plans for the future - and are facing tough decisions and community concerns as possible solutions are considered.

To start, look at the challenges confronting us. To move to net zero by 2050 vehicles powered by oil (petrol and diesel) will have to be phased out and the use of gas to warm homes and offices - and to power factories - will have to end.

There has been some talk of using hydrogen power for some transport - but the most realistic option is that more energy will be renewably-generated electricity.

For that we're going to need more of it. Currently the UK has 120GW capacity. Experts reckon that by 2050, or possibly sooner, we will need capacity for 300GW - and at the same time we want to eliminate gas, oil and coal power stations.

So generation is the first problem. If you're running a gas or nuclear plant power station the amount of power it generates is known and is pretty constant.

You don't get that consistency with wind or solar power so there has to be sophisticated electronic kit introduced to balance the output.

That can be pretty large and probably won't be very attractive in the countryside.

Converter stations like this cover several hectares and are needed at each end of an undersea cable. (Image: National Grid)

The UK decided that modern wind turbines are too ugly to onshore about 10 years ago so most are now put in the sea - but they can still be controversial there.

Councils have to consider the impact on the seascape - even if the tallest turbines are just small specks on the horizon several miles out from shore.

But getting the power from the North Sea to where it is needed is a massive headache - and one that is already causing political rows.

I met the team from Suffolk County Council dealing with Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) in the county.

They have maps of power grids from the large lines of National Grid pylons carrying 400KV cables around the country to smaller lines carrying power for individual distributors like UK Power Networks.

They also look at how power comes into the country from the offshore windfarms - and from powerlines connecting the UK with Europe.

That is where the East Anglian coast from the Thames to the Wash is on the front line.

Every proposal seems mired in controversy - but if this power is to reach where it is needed tough decisions will have to be made.

The electricity generated at sea needs to be converted into a useable form of power before it can be linked into the network - and then it needs to be moved to where it is needed.

The proposed line of pylons from Norwich to Tilbury is one of the most controversial proposals on the table at present.

New-style T-Pylons are being installed on some routes. (Image: National Grid)

That would have a capacity of 6GW of electricity through 400KV overhead cables carry AC electricity. But the pylons would go across land which doesn't have them at present and this has caused great concern among many communities.

One solution suggested has been to put the cables at sea. However engineers say you cannot put AC electricity on the sea bed - it has to be converted to DC electricity. And each undersea cable would have 2GW capacity so you'd need three cables to make up for the pylons.

Each of these cables would need to have a converter station on the East Anglian coast and then another on the Thames Estuary - and these are huge, on average between six and eight hectares.

Inside a converter station looks like a sci-fi film set (Image: National Grid)

They have massive warehouse-like structures containing what looks like a sci-fi film set and banks of outdoor transformers.

And there would need to be three of these converter stations between Yarmouth and Felixstowe near the coast - as well as three more in south Essex or on the north coast of Kent.

There have been suggestions that cables could be run from the wind farms directly to a central plant in the Thames estuary near where the power is needed.

But that brings all kinds of concerns about energy security - the government is keen not to have a single site handling such a huge proportion of the nation's power - and also worries about how undersea cables might interfere with an important international shipping lane.