KN40053

KEY NOTE RENEWABLE ENERGY : June 2003

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This report covers: renewable energy, biofuels and wastes, landfill gas, sewage sludge digestion schemes, domestic wood combustion, industrial wood combustion, short rotation coppice, straw combustion, hydropower, wind and wave power, solar energy, passive solar heating, active solar heating, photovoltaics, geothermal aquifers, combined heat and power, wind energy, solar energy, biomass, energy from waste, hydropower, wave power, electrical equipment, civil engineering, developing countris' energy needs, Global Warming, distribution of energy supplies, finite oil and gas reserves, energy efficiency, nuclear energy, energy options worldwide, UK government policy, climate change levy, carbon emisssions trading, non-grid-connected renewable energy installations,

Companies and Associations covered include: British BioGen, British Hydropower Association, The British Photvoltaic Association, British Wind Energy Association, Energy Industrial Council, Renewable Power Association, Solar Trade Association, World Energy Council, Amec Wind, BP solar Ltd, National Wind Power Ltd.,Powergen Renewable Holdings, Renewable Energy Systems, Scottish Power, Shell International Renewables, Shell Solar, Shell Wind Energy, Vestas-Celtic Wind Technology, AES Solar Systems, Bioenergy Technology, Compact Power Holdings, Coppice Resources, Dulas, E Connect, Energy for Sustainable Developments, Fibrowatt, Intersolar group, IT Power, PV Systems, Thermomax, Wavegen,

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report analyses the UK renewable energy market and prospects for biofuels and wastes, hydro, wind and wave, solar and geothermal energy. In 2001, the main source in the utilisation of all types of renewable energy — in terms of millions of tonnes of oil equivalent (mtoe) — was biofuels at 85.6 percent. Landfill gas (27 percent) and waste combustion (21.5 percent) were the main constituents in this sector. Large-scale hydropower contributed 10.7 percent and wind and wave 2.7 percent. In 2001, of the total 3,099mtoe renewable energy produced, 2,398mtoe (77.4 percent) was used for electricity generation.

This report gives details of the renewable fuel mix used for electricity and also for heat.

Renewable energy sources have been known for many years, but it is only during the past 20 years that modern technology and investment has been applied to produce viable alternatives to fossil fuel, that can produce energy on a useful scale.

The stimulus to develop renewables is being driven by several factors. Carbon emissions from fossil fuels are causing global warming and there is pressure to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide produced in energy production. The UK is soon to become a net importer of gas and later of oil, as North Sea reserves are depleted. There is also every prospect of rising gas prices. Renewable energy is now formally part of the government energy policy to reduce carbon emissions and to diversify the UK's energy supply. Alternative methods have to be found for disposing of biodegradable material and one way of achieving this is by using processes such as incineration and digestion, which produce heat or energy products.

A number of key issues face the renewable energy sector, not least of which is a sustained government policy that provides appropriate legislation and financial support for technology and market development. The Renewables Obligation, exemption from the Climate Change Levy and, in the future, emissions trading will help in this direction. Energy storage continues to provide a challenge for intermittent sources, such as wind and solar power, and research is being undertaken in this area. Planning consent, especially for wind farms, is a longstanding issue and is frequently the cause of delays or even abandonment of projects. In the case of wind energy, this situation could ease with the construction of offshore wind farms, where there is likely to be less objection to the visual impact of wind farms.

The future demand for renewable energy will depend on costs. For power generation, the major technologies are more expensive than the cheapest fossil fuel methods, with wind power being the technology with the lowest cost in kilowatts per hour (KWh) in the next 5 years. If the Government's target of 10 percent power generation is to be reached using renewable energy by 2010, a total of 10,000 megawatts (MW) will have to be installed at that date. Government estimates that by 2010 the Renewables Obligation and Climate Change Levy will be worth £1bn a year to the renewables sector.

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Last updated by Amanda Porteous February 2004