Renewable energy generation expanded significantly and carbon emissions fell by 7% in 2011, according to the latest figures released by DECC. Renewable energy was responsible for 9.5% of all electricity supplied in the UK in 2011, just failing to hit the hoped for target of 10%. Nevertheless, this still represents an increase of 35.1% on the previous year, when renewables accounted for 6.8% of all electricity. Most of this resulted from thermal renewables, i.e. biomass, landfill gas and waste-to-energy, which accounted for 13.27TWh, and onshore wind which accounted for 10.42TWh. Renewable electricity capacity also rose, by 32.1% on the previous year to 12.2 GW at the end of 2011.

The most recent figures show that the UK's solar photovoltaic capacity from installations receiving the feed-in tariff is now 1.02 GW from a total of 298,762 installations, and that the UK's greenhouse gas emissions also fell by 7% last year.

This means that since 1990, the baseline year for the Kyoto Protocol, the U.K.'s carbon dioxide emissions have decreased by 23%, while overall energy consumption has decreased by 5%.

The fall last year is mainly due to reduced use of gas in the domestic sector, where emissions fell by 22%, but also due to more nuclear coming back on stream after outages the previous year, and reduced overall energy consumption due to the recession.

Total consumption of fuel fell by 2.2% last year, with gas taking the largest hit with a fall of 8.9%. Consumption of coal and other solid fuels rose by 9.3%

Emissions from the energy supply sector were estimated to be around 24% lower in 2011 than they were in 1990.

Commenting on the figures, Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Edward Davey said: “This is more evidence of how the UK is leading the way in the fight against climate change. Carbon emissions are down, homes are more energy efficient and low carbon power is up. Thanks to the Green Deal and the Government’s reforms to the electricity market I hope to see this trend continue and gather pace.”

The improved renewable generation figures were helped by high rainfall in areas where hydroelectric generation takes place, and increased wind speeds. Hydro had a 58% increase on the previous year.