England to Miss 2010 Green Energy Target

England will miss its renewable energy targets for 2010 unless the country's individual regions speed up the rollout of green energy projects. According to Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, TX), a report from the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) says that the country will not achieve its interim regional goals of obtaining power from renewables by 2010 unless regional authorities work harder and faster. The report, titled 'England's Regional Renewable Energy Targets: Progress Report' claims that most of the country's nine regions are set to comprehensively miss their targets on generating electricity from renewables.

The U.K. as a whole has set a target of generating 10 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2010. This target is entirely voluntary, but the BWEA claims that at the current rate, the U.K. could fail to meet its 2020 European Union obligations of generating 15 percent of its energy (30-35 percent of electricity) from renewable sources by 2020.

In the nine regions, one of which is Greater London, the BWEA estimates that only 50 percent of renewable electricity generation will be met, with some regions such as the South West failing to reach even a third of their targets. The damning report claims that the U.K.'s 10 percent target might only be met because Scotland and Northern Ireland seem likely to outstrip their own targets and have "bolstered the poor performance of England and Wales."

The report highlights that slow and ineffective planning is a massive problem. The BWEA maintains that this is tying down windfarm applications in England and Wales for an average of 14 months, compared to the statutory guideline period of 16 weeks. Also, the report discovered that about 50 percent of windfarm applications taken to appeal for refusal or non-determination are subsequently approved.

"The target based approach works–all it takes is the political will to deliver," said Maria McCaffery, BWEA Chief Executive. "In Scotland renewables targets were backed by a policy framework and decisive central Government action. As a consequence, Scotland achieved more installed capacity than it was aiming for, thus helping to improve the overall U.K. picture as we approach 2010. But, in England we need to think carefully on how to use the lessons learned from 2010, as we attempt to reach the binding E.U.-wide 2020 targets."

The only part of England that has met its 2010 targets is London, but London's overall contribution to the nation's total generation of renewable electricity is minimal, at just 2 percent.

McCaffrey added, "If we want to use 2010 as a dry run for 2020, timeliness and political initiative would be the two key lessons we should implement. A clear schedule of implementation backed by central Government, with a system of checks and balances as we approach 2020, will be crucial if we want to join the renewable energy revolution, and not be laggards in Europe."