All the signs are that the world's demand for energy will continue to increase well into the 21st century. As living standards improve in countries around the globe, more and more energy will have to be made available to ensure those standards can be reached and then sustained.
     
     But meeting energy demands does not come without a cost. In particular, reliance on "conventional" energy sources such as fossil fuels - coal, oil and gas - to generate electricity and produce heat can have unwelcome environmental side-effects. Global warming and acid rain are two of the problems caused by burning fossil fuels to produce energy.
     
     It is vital, then, to find other, cleaner ways of meeting our energy requirements, that can help limit the amount we need to use more polluting energy sources. Renewable energy represents one option.
     
     In fact, the term "renewables" covers a wide range of energy sources - sun, wind, water, crops, waste etc. These sources require different technologies to harness them, are at different stages of development, and have different levels of relevance to the UK. But  they all have one thing in common - they will never run out. In addition, they can all be exploited without causing major environmental problems. 
     
     In the UK, important steps forward in renewable energy have taken place over the last decade. Perhaps most significant of all has been the introduction of the Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation (NFFO), which has helped renewables to establish themselves in the energy market. The NFFO has ensured that electricity companies derive a certain amount of their power from renewables. Already, 331 renewable energy projects are up and running as a result of the NFFO in England and Wales, or its equivalents the Scottish Renewables Obligation (SRO) and the Northern Ireland NFFO. These projects cover a range of energy sources, including wind, hydro and waste. They are helping us to realise the benefits of renewable energy - now and for the future.

To succeed the NFFO, a new Renewable Obligation is due to come into effect in 2001. This will play a key role in helping the Government meet its target to produce 5% of the UK's electricity supplies from renewables by 2003 and 10% by 2010, subject to the cost to consumers being acceptable.