According to a report in the UK’s Telegraph quoting a study by UK government advisers, uptake in homes of renewable energy is set to boom after Britain’s government committed to pay people for generating their own electricity via feed in tariffs.
The Energy Saving Trust has projected that the rollout of the promised tariffs could see up to a quarter of households investing in renewable energy options. The Trust predicts over 195,000 home wind turbines will be installed over the next 12 years and upwards of 900,000 households will install solar power and/or solar hot water systems.
Over 800,000 UK home owners will also install air source heat pumps for heating water – a heat pump is a little like a reverse refrigerator and operates by taking heat from the air to raise the temperature of water. While the UK isn’t known for high temperatures, heat pumps can work very effectively in cold conditions.
The boom in home renewable energy will assist the UK in meeting its target to reduce greenhouse emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.
While the UK is not the best location for solar panels, Germany has proved that even nations with lower levels of sunlight can build huge domestic solar industries. Given weather condition in the country, the UK has an abundance of renewable energy sources such as wind and wave power. The Network for Alternative Technology and Technology Assessment (NATTA) believes that wind turbines could generate up to 20% of the UK’s electricity, while the potential for off-shore wind energy is huge, able to meet up to 50% of the UK’s electricity needs.
