Green Energy Surged in Britain Over Last 3 Years: Report

Green energy has surged in Britain over the last three years, according to survey data which also highlighted accelerating investment in wind power.

Green energy has surged in Britain over the last three years, according to survey data published which also highlighted accelerating investment in wind power.

Turnover in Britain’s low carbon and renewable energy sector expanded 15.5 percent to £46.7 billion (USD 60.8 billion, 54.6 billion euros) in 2018 compared with 2015, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a report. That rapid growth helped create and sustain a total of 224,800 full-time jobs, compared with 200,800 three years earlier.

The expansion was achieved against the backdrop of Britain’s long-standing vow to become carbon neutral by 2050 when it hopes to achieve net-zero for UK greenhouse gas emissions.

The sector’s biggest component was the energy-efficient products — which includes the design, manufacture or installation of energy-efficient doors, windows and insulation. Sales of energy-efficient products, excluding lighting, comprised about one-third of the total at GBP 16.7 billion in 2018, according to the ONS.

The next biggest component was low emission vehicles, whose turnover stood at GBP 4.4 billion in the same year.

Turning to wind power, the ONS said acquisitions of capital assets in this area accelerated to GBP 4.2 billion in 2018, up from just GBP 700 million in 2015.

A new report by the research company BloombergNEF (BNEF) shows how what had been a subdued first few months of 2019 gave way to a busier second half, with the highlights including US onshore wind and, in particular, offshore wind in China and Europe. Adding that investments in renewable energy capacity worldwide were USD 282.2 billion last year, up 1 percent from 2018’s USD 280.2 billion, with the world’s biggest market (China) slipping back, but it’s second-largest (the US) hitting a new record. India, on the other hand, saw an investment of only USD 9.3 billion, into green energy, 14 percent less than in 2018.

The annual ONS survey was based on a sample of 24,000 businesses in low-carbon sectors, collecting data on turnover, imports, exports, employment, acquisitions and asset disposals.