The latest government statistics revealed that a quarter of all our power needs came from British sunshine, wind and rain last year. It’s a testament to our world class renewable resources that clean, green generation is now a major player in UK energy. We often come up against a perception that renewables play an insignificant role in powering the country, but these new stats demonstrate the lack of accuracy in this view. In fact, renewables are now the second biggest generator of electricity in the UK – just 5% behind gas and ahead of both coal and nuclear, which account for 23% and 21% respectively. Renewables reached 4% just a decade ago, so it’s grown by more than 20% in 10 years. We think that’s growth any economist would be impressed by. Scotland sourced 57.7% of its electricity from renewable sources last year, crushing its 50% target by some margin. This comes soon after the closure of the last coal plant in Scotland, marking a significant step in the move away from fossil fuels.
Good Energy 1st April 2016 read more »