89 per cent of the renewable energy produced in 2006 was transformed into electricity. This is an increase from 87 per cent in 2005 and 82 per cent in 2004. While biofuels appear to dominate the picture when fuel inputs are being measured, hydro electricity is a larger contributor when the output of electricity is being measured. This is because on an energy supplied basis hydro (and also wind, wave and solar) inputs are assumed to be equal to the electricity produced. For landfill gas, sewage sludge, municipal solid waste and other renewables a substantial proportion of the energy content of the input is lost in the process of conversion to electricity.

Overall, renewable sources, excluding wastes and passive uses of solar energy, provided 1.8 per cent of the United Kingdom's total primary energy requirements in 2006. This was 0.1 of a percentage point higher than in 2005, which in turn was 0.2 percentage points higher than in 2004.

Total electricity generation from renewables in 2006 amounted to 18,133 GWh, an increase of 1,263 GWh (+7½ per cent) on 2005. The main contributors to this substantial increase were 1,072 GWh from onshore wind (+43 per cent), 248 GWh (+62 per cent) from offshore wind 134 GWh (+3 per cent) from landfill gas and 119 GWh (+12 per cent) from municipal solid waste combustion. There was no increase in co-firing of biomass with fossil fuels and a 350 GWh decrease (-8 per cent) in large scale hydro generation which can be attributed to drier weather. Only 23 per cent of generation from renewables was from large scale hydro in 2006 compared with 26½ per cent in 2005. Hydro (taking both large and small scale together) remains the most important renewables technology in output terms closely followed by landfill gas and wind (both onshore and offshore), with the co-firing of biomass the next most prominent. In 2006, 25 per cent of the electricity generated from renewables was from hydro sources, 24 per cent from landfill gas, 23 per cent from wind, 14 per cent from co-firing, and 13 per cent from other biofuels.

As a result all renewable sources provided 4.55 per cent of the electricity generated in the United Kingdom in 2006, 0.32 percentage points higher than in 2005.

Electricity generated in the UK from renewable sources eligible under the Renewables Obligation in 2006 was 11 per cent greater than in 2005. This compares with growth of 33 per cent in 2005, 38 per cent in 2004 and 24 per cent in 2003. Electricity generated in the UK from renewable sources eligible under the Renewables Directive in 2006 was 7½ per cent greater than in 2005. This compares with growth of 20 per cent in 2005, 34 per cent in 2004 and a 5 per cent fall in.

There was a 10½ per cent increase (+483 MWe) in the installed generating capacity of renewable sources in 2006, mainly as a result of a 22 per cent increase (+300 MWe) in onshore wind capacity. There was also a 5 per increase (+38 MWe) in the capacity fuelled by landfill gas and a 2 per cent increase in large scale hydro capacity. There was a small reduction in sewage gas capacity as sewage treatment works companies consolidated their activities, where possible, with the construction of new facilities incorporating CHP. The capacity to generate from solar photovoltaics showed a small decrease because of the useful life of some early technologies has come to an end.

With respect to heat generation, the three sources in the United Kingdom are: the direct combustion of biofuels (93 per cent of the total), active solar heating, and geothermal aquifers. Together they produced energy equivalent to 492 thousand tonnes of oil equivalent. Renewables used to generate heat are now only just over half the level they were 10 years earlier in 1996. The decline is mainly due to tighter emission controls discouraging on-site burning of biofuels, especially wood waste, although domestic and industrial use of wood and wood waste still provide the main contribution. When this heat production figure is combined with the use of renewable sources for electricity generation, renewable sources accounted for 1.8 per cent of the United Kingdom’s total primary energy requirements in 2006, up from 1.7 per cent in 2005 and 1.5 per cent in 2004.

Further information is available on:

Electricity
- growth
- capacity
Renewables Obligations
- since 1990
Utilisation
Heat & Electricity Generation