Thanks to a boost from wind and solar power installations, renewable energy output skyrocketed in the United Kingdom last year, growing a whopping 42%.
Stats from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) showed that the second quarter of 2012 had a 6.5% increase in renewable electricity output, with overall capacity rising to 14.2 GW, due largely in part to wind farms and the conversion of the Tilbury B power station to biomass.
The UK’s renewable share of its electricity mix increased from 9% in the second quarter of 2011 to 9.6% just a year later.
This is all pretty impressive because the past year has been awful in terms of weather cooperating with renewable energy. Low rainfall levels were unforgiving for hydroelectricity production, causing a 31% decrease, and weak winds led to an 11% drop from onshore wind farms. Imagine what the increase could be if the weather would just cooperate.
This just goes to show that small changes everywhere can make a big difference, and the world is slowly but surely becoming a better place.
Image CC licensed by .Martin
0 comments… add one