Statistics released by European Union data collection body Eurostat have shown the UK is trailing behind other European member states in the area of renewable energy generation.

Across the EU, renewable energies supplied 12.4 per cent of total energy consumption in 2010, up from 11.7 per cent the previous year. However, in the UK renewables only accounted for 3.2 per cent of energy consumed.

As a result, the UK is currently languishing third from bottom in the use of renewable, ahead of only Luxembourg and Malta. Conversely, Sweden generated the greatest percentage of renewable energy, with 47.9 per cent.

However, organisations within the UK suggest there may be a leap in production on the horizon. Research by the NFU has shown 30 per cent of farmers in England and Wales will be involved at some level in renewable energy production by autumn 2012.

Furthermore, government figures released today show Scottish renewable energy production increased by 45 per cent in the first quarter of 2012 compared to the same period the previous year.

Scotland’s renewable energy production increased 44.3 per cent between 2010 and 2011; energy generated from renewable sources has seen a 97.3 per cent rise in the country since 2006. Standing alone, an estimated 35 per cent of Scotland’s total energy consumption was supplied by renewable in 2011.

According to UK government figures released today in the Energy Trends and Quarterly Energy Prices report, the UK generated over 11 per cent of its electricity renewably in 2011; the report showed that smaller installations are continuing apace and that the sector remains healthy.

In 2009, the EU directive on renewable energy set individual targets for all Member States, with the overall aim of ensuring 20 per cent of EU energy consumption comes from renewable sources by 2020. The UK Committee on Climate Change announced in its review last year that the UK remains on track to meeting ambitious renewable targets.  

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