Over 11 percent of the UK's electricity came from renewable sources in the first three months of this year, according to a report on Energy Trends from the Department for Energy and Climate Change.  That's up 3.6 percent on last year, and better still, the country's ability to generate renewable power has taken a huge leap.  It's gone up 33 percent, or 3.1GW (GigaWatts) over the same time.

Growth in energy generation fom renewables since 2000 - from DECC Energy Trends (June 2012)

One of the biggest, if least suprising, success stories has been the takeup of solar photovoltaic panels under the (now cut) Feed in Tariff scheme, which paid panel owners for the energy they produced.  More than 100,000 homes and busineses have installed them, adding more than 400MW of renewable generation capacity in just three months.

More than 100,000 homes and businesses have installed solar panels.

Wind power available to the UK went up by over half, and a huge biomass power plant at Tilbury B, newly converted from coal (yay!) added an extra 21 percent of bioenergy electricity generation to the mix.

We're still a long way from where we need to be - only 3.8 percent of Britain's total energy use (everything, not just electricity) came fom renewables in these three months.  But it's a step in the right direction, so let's keep our fingers crossed we can keep it up next quarter!  

Have you installed renewables in your home?  Are you pleased with the results?  Drop us a line and let us know at hello@1010uk.org, tweet us @1010 or post on our Facebook page.