If you had to say which country has the world’s biggest offshore wind farm, Europe’s biggest floating solar park and electricity from the dregs of Fruit Pastilles, you might not guess it was the UK. But over the past five years, with the help of more than £10bn in subsidies, Britain has quietly become a star in the world of green power. A record 25 per cent of electricity generated last year came from wind farms, solar panels and other renewable power sources, up from 9 per cent in 2011. For the first time, renewable sources provided more power over the year than coal, the fuel that made the UK the birthplace of the industrial revolution. That puts Britain within shouting distance of Germany, home of the “Energiewende” green power revolution. Germans got 27 per cent of their electricity from renewables two years ago and about 33 per cent last year. The speed at which renewables have grown in the UK led the government to last year start curbing some subsidies, which are largely paid for by levies on consumer energy bills. But the future of the UK’s green conversion is unclear. Shortly after taking office last year Amber Rudd, the Conservative secretary of state running the Department of Energy and Climate Change, said she would rein in green subsidies to protect “hard-working families” from higher energy bills. At least two solar power companies have since gone into administration and some analysts say more could follow in a renewable energy sector that employed more than 112,000 people in 2014.
FT 3rd May 2016 read more »
The UK’s renewable energy revolution has been fast, widespread and sometimes just plain strange. From the Flying Bum airship to the electricity made from Glenfiddich whisky leftovers, here are just some of the projects in Great Green Britain.
FT 3rd May 2016 read more »