Wind King

SUBHEAD: Renewable energy output in the UK jumped 42% last year.

By Brian Merchant on 28 September 2012 for TreeHugger -
(http://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/renewable-energy-output-uk-jumped-42-last-year.html)


Image above: Wind turbine blades being manufactured in the UK. From (http://www.guardian.co.uk/alternative-energy-crown-estate/the-race-for-turbine-technology).

Renewable energy output skyrocketed in the United Kingdom last year; total output grew 42%, thanks largely to gains in wind and solar installation. The Guardian reports:

The statistics from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) show renewable electricity output during the second quarter of 2012 rose 6.5 per cent year-on-year to 8.13TWh, while capacity soared 42.4 per cent to 14.2GW, largely as the result of the opening of a raft of new large-scale on- and offshore wind farms and the conversion of the Tilbury B power station to dedicated biomass.The increases meant that renewables' share of the UK's electricity mix edged up from nine per cent in the second quarter of 2011 to 9.6 per cent a year later

And it was a particularly bad year in terms of renewable-friendly weather conditions, too. Low rainfall meant hydro was less productive than usual, and weak winds meant some turbine farms underperformed. But even in lackluster conditions, the UK still produced a record-breaking amount of clean power.Further evidence still that there's a sensible, achievable path to an almost-entirely renewable energy-powered world.

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