Renewable Energy In The Uk

​This book offers a detailed account of how renewable energy has moved from the margins to the mainstream in the UK, and of the battles that have been fought to achieve this, trawling through the often troubled history of government involvement. The book examines how renewables became what now seem likely to be the dominant energy sources of the future. Renewable energy technologies, using solar and wind power and other natural energy sources, are now supplying around 30% of UK electricity and appear set to continue expanding to supply around 50% within the next decade. Although the emphasis of the book is on the UK, developments there are compared with those in other countries to provide an overall assessment of the relevance of the UK experience. Chapters explore why the UK still lags behind many other countries in deploying renewables, in part, it is argued, due to its continued reliance on nuclear power. The book ends with a discussion on what sort of changes may be expected over the coming years. The author does not assume a single answer, but invites readers to consider the possibilities.

economics of renewable Energy : Recent developments, 4th report of session 2007-08, Vol. 2: Evidence

Climate change has become a major international issue and the British Government is committed to meeting ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions within the present decade and beyond. Much of this will rely on an increasing use of renewable energy. Within current technology this will depend almost exclusively upon the use of rural land, whether for wind turbines, for growing biomass and biofuels or for the production of biogas. Renewable energy is therefore of immediate interest to farmers and landowners and to their advisers, such as surveyors, lawyers, accountants and bankers, as well as to planners and conservationists. This is one of very few books which addresses the issue of renewable energy from the point of view of landowners, farmers and rural land managers - those people who must make important decisions about how, where and when to install renewable energy sources on their land and the business implications of the decisions they make. The third edition of Renewable Energy in the Countryside contains a new chapter on biogas, up-to-date discussions on the implications of the Renewable Heat Initiative and new opportunities for solar energy and ground source heat in the context of farms and country houses as well as the implications of changes in UK planning policies.

This document sets out the Government's plans for a radical increase in the UK's use of renewable electricity, heat and transport, which will meet the legally-binding target of 15 per cent of energy coming from renewable sources by 2020. This Strategy will help tackle climate change, reducing the UK's emissions of carbon dioxide by over 750 million tonnes between now and 2030. It will also promote the security of UK energy supply, reducing our overall fossil fuel demand by around 10 per cent and gas imports by 20-30 per cent against what they would have been in 2020. And it will provide opportunities for the UK economy with the potential to create up to half a million more jobs in the UK renewable energy sector resulting from around £100 billion of new investment. In parallel with energy saving, nuclear and carbon capture and storage, this is a key element for setting the UK on the path to achieve a low-carbon, sustainable future that helps address dangerous climate change. This strategy could result in: more than 30 per cent of electricity and 12 per cent of heat generated from renewables; and 10 per cent of transport energy from renewables. The Government will: provide financial support for renewable electricity and heat worth around £30 billion between now and 2020; drive delivery and clear away barriers, through the Office for Renewable Energy Deployment; increase investment in emerging technologies and pursue new sources of supply: create new opportunities for individuals, communities and business to harness renewable energy. The UK Low Carbon Transition Plan is published alongside this document (ISBN 9780108508394).

The European Union's (EU) common Energy Policy commits the EU to generating 20 per cent of total energy consumption from renewables by 2020. The European Commission proposed national renewable energy targets for each Member State and it was suggested that 15 per cent of UK energy be derived from renewables by 2020.

Throughout the world, the threat of climate change is pressing governments to accelerate the deployment of technologies to generate low carbon electricity or heat. But this is frequently leading to controversy, as energy and planning policies are revised to support new energy sources or technologies (e.g. offshore wind, tidal, bioenergy or hydrogen energy) and communities face the prospect of unfamiliar, often large-scale energy technologies being sited near to their homes. Policy makers in many countries face tensions between 'streamlining' planning procedures, engaging with diverse publics to address what is commonly conceived as 'NIMBY' (not in my back yard) opposition, and the need to maintain democratic, participatory values in planning systems. This volume provides a timely, international review of research on public engagement, in contexts of diverse, innovative energy technologies. Public engagement is conceived broadly - as the interaction between how developers and other key actors engage with publics about energy technologies (including assumptions held about the methods used, such as the provision of financial benefits or the holding of deliberative events), and how individuals and groups engage with energy policies and projects (including indirectly through the media and directly through emotional and behavioural responses). The book's contributors are leading experts in the UK, Europe, North and South America and Australia drawn from a variety of relevant social science disciplinary perspectives. The book makes a significant contribution to our existing knowledge, as well as providing interested professionals, policymakers and members of the public with a timely overview of the critical issues involved in public engagement with low carbon energy technologies.

Foreword by Lord Browne of MadingleyReviews of the First Edition:'The entire text is quite readable and can be moved through with relative ease. This reviewer heartily recommends that, regardless of your background, you read this book to really get a grasp of the cutting-edge of climate finance.'LSE Review of BooksRenewable Energy Finance (Second Edition) describes in rich detail current best practices and evolving trends in clean energy investing. With contributions by some of the world's leading experts in energy finance, the book documents how investors are spending over $300 billion each year on financing renewable energy and positioning themselves in a growing global investment market. This second edition documents, with practical examples, the ways in which investors have funded over $2.6 trillion in solar, wind, and other renewable energy projects over the past decade. The book will be a go-to reference manual for understanding the factors that shape risk and return in renewable energy, the world's fastest growing industrial sector. The book is suitable for executives new to the field, as well as advanced business students.Edited by Dr Charles Donovan, Principal Teaching Fellow at Imperial College Business School and formerly Head of Structuring and Valuation for Global Power at BP, the book will give readers a unique insiders' perspective on how renewable energy deals actually get done.