Energy suppliers generating just 1.3% from renewable means - 16/06/2009
People looking to switch energy companies to a greener supplier may be upset to hear that the UK generates just 1.3 per cent of its power from renewable means.
The government figure leaves the UK lingering third from bottom in the European table of clean energy use, ahead of only Malta and Luxembourg, while Sweden leads the continent with over 40 per cent of its national energy demand satisfied through renewable means in 2005, reports the Guardian.
Britain may struggle to meet its 2020 targets and both reduce the price of energy and lower the national carbon footprint, having increased renewable usage by only 0.3 per cent in ten years.
Greg Clark, the shadow energy and climate secretary, told the paper: "This failure reflects the government's decade-long absence of an energy policy. It is characteristic of Labour's approach to government - to sign up to targets, but have no plan to achieve them."
The Department of Energy and Climate Change said the UK's renewable output has risen by about 0.5 per cent since 2005.
Nuclear energy is being viewed by the government as one of the best ways to cleanly safeguard the UK's energy future.
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