Renewable energy in 2015: the state of play

Quentin Scott, Marketing Director at Low Carbon, on the state of play in the renewable energy market for 2015

2015 has certainly been an important year so far for renewable energy, both in the UK and globally. In July, Germany broke a record for wind energy production whilst the UK recorded unseen levels of solar generation in the same month. Despite various subsidy cuts and political shifting from governments across Europe, the industry continues to power forward with new innovations. Instead of being overwhelmed by uncertainty, we continue to observe huge strides being made in the global fight against climate change.

In February of this year, it was confirmed that the UK is on track to meet its 2020 clean energy and climate change goals, whilst countries such as Iceland and Costa Rica now run entirely on clean power sources. There is a long-way to go for countries across the globe to reach a zero-carbon state, but with high-profile individuals such as Bill Gates openly rallying the global population against fossil fuel investment and towards renewable energy re-investment, the benefits of renewable energy are certainly out there for consumers, institutional investors and governments, to see.

It’s been an pivotal year for technological innovation as well. Wavy solar panels, micro-turbine wind ‘trees’ and the flight of the Solar Impulse plane have all been prevalent on the media agenda. This has raised awareness as to the technological possibilities that can propel the renewable energy industry into the high-tech age.

Here at Low Carbon, we are determined to work on innovative projects such as powering Land Rover BAR’s new headquarters in Portsmouth, and working with Plan Bee to install hives on our solar parks to help save the UK’s declining honeybee population. We are always trying to push the boundaries of what we can achieve on our sites in order to maximise efficiency, raise awareness and generate clean energy for local communities.

With only two weeks to go until the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP21), we hope to see developments made to benefit the renewable energy industry. More specifically, we hope to see world leaders and global governments reach an agreement that transforms both the political and investor landscapes, in order to drive change. And this result is more than welcome here in the UK, with recent figures showing that 4 out of 5 Britons support renewables as a power source. Here’s to progress, and to the continued and necessary fight against the negative effects of climate change.