The Government will fail to meet a key climate change target to generate more electricity from wind farms despite spending £265 million of taxpayer’s money, according to spending watchdogs.
By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent In 2000 the last Government set a target of generating 10 per cent of electricity from renewable energy sources like wind, wave or solar by 2010. But a report from the National Audit Office said the target is likely to be missed this year, despite direct government grants of £265 million to help energy companies develop the new technologies. It also casts doubt on the ability of the Government to meet a legally-binding EU target to generate 15 per cent of all energy from renewables by 2020. The latest available data from 2008 shows that only 5.5 per cent was obtained from renewable sources. Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, pointed out that the Government will have to increase the amount of renewable energy in this country seven fold on 2008 levels to meet the 2020 target. “At present the 2020 target looks optimistic,” he said. Environmental groups said the performance of the Government has been disappointing despite public support for renewables. The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) insisted the UK is on course to meet climate change targets, including the goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 34 per cent by 2020. The latest figures show the UK has cut greenhouse gas emissions by 28 per cent since 1990.
