79% of the renewable energy produced in 2007 was transformed into electricity. This is a decrease from 83 per cent in 2006 and 85% in 2005, because the use of biofuels for transport has grown faster than the use of renewables for electricity. While biomass appears to dominate the picture when fuel inputs are being measured, hydro electricity and wind power together provide a larger contribution 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 as the Energy Flow Chart illustrates.

Total electricity generation from renewables in 2007 amounted to 19,664 GWh, an increase of 1,548 GWh (+8.5%) on 2006. The main contributors to this substantial increase were 917 GWh from onshore wind (+26%), 439 GWh from large scale hydro (+11%), 253 GWh (+6%) from landfill gas, 132 GWh (+20%) from offshore wind, and 94 GWh (+9%) from municipal solid waste combustion. There was a 572 GWh decrease in co-firing of biomass with fossil fuels (-23%).

As a result, all renewable sources provided 4.98% of the electricity generated in the United Kingdom in 2007, 0.43 percentage points higher than in 2006. This chart shows the growth in the proportion of electricity produced from renewable sources. It includes the progress towards the renewables targets set under the RO and RD.

Electricity generated in the UK from renewable sources eligible under the RO in 2007 was 9.3% greater than in 2006. This compares with growth of 10.5% in 2006, 33% in 2005 and 38% in 2004. Electricity generated in the UK from renewable sources eligible under the Renewables Directive in 2007 was 8.5% greater than in 2006. This compares with growth of 6.9% in 2006, 20% in 2005 and 33% in 2004.

There was a 13% increase (+665 MWe) in the installed generating capacity of renewable sources in 2007, mainly as a result of a 26% increase (+433 MWe) in onshore wind capacity and a 30% increase (+90 MWe) in offshore wind capacity. There was also a 5% increase (+44 MWe) in the capacity fuelled by landfill gas and a 37% increase (+83 MWe) in capacity fuelled by animal or plant biomass.

Renewables used for heat generation are now shown to have declined to a low point in 2000 but since picked up to be less than 20 per cent lower in 2007 than the level 10 years earlier. The decline was mainly due to tighter emissions controls discouraging on-site burning of biomass, especially wood waste by industry. Domestic use of wood provides the main contribution to renewables used for heat, but the use of animal and plant biomass has shown strong growth in recent years. In addition, the use of active solar heating has almost tripled in the last five years.

Around 485 million litres of biodiesel were produced in the UK in 2007 (up from 291 million litres in 2006). Biodiesel consumption figures derived from figures published by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) show that 347 million litres of biodiesel were consumed in 2007, up from 169 million litres in 2006 and 33 million litres in 2005. This implies that around 138 million litres of biodiesel were exported in 2007. The total annual capacity for biodiesel production in the UK could reach 1,600 million litres per year in 2010 if all the planned plant become operational and the existing plant operate at full capacity. This production level would be equivalent to just around 6 per cent of the UK’s diesel consumption in 2007. This reduced capacity, compared to that reported as planned in last year’s Digest, is due to a number of plants having closed or are planning to close citing that it is currently uneconomic to produce biodiesel in the UK because of subsidised US imports, the price of biodiesel being too low, a shortage of feedstock, and high feedstock prices.

HMRC data show that 153 million litres of bioethanol was consumed in the UK in 2007, up from 95 million litres in 2006, and 85 million litres in 2005. Only one UK plant was in production in 2007, and so the majority of the bioethanol was imported. If all planned plants became operational on current planned timescales, their combined capacity would be around 600 million litres by 2011, equivalent to 2.4 per cent of the UK’s petrol consumption in 2007. Some of the capacity reported as planned in last year’s Digest will not now go ahead due to the uncertain future market.

In 2007, 7 per cent of the renewable sources used in the UK in primary input terms were liquid biofuels for transport, up from 4 per cent in 2006 and less than half a per cent in 2003.

Further information is available on:

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