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Welcome to the website. Planners and local councillors will play a key role in how renewable energy is developed in the UK in the coming years. Our aim with this website is to provide the information you need to enable you to make informed decisions about renewable energy. The site includes useful background information on each renewable energy source, the technology currently available, and current and likely future developments. You may find the information in the community and environment sections of each energy source particularly relevant as these highlight key benefits and issues. The Links section provides direct access to other useful organisations involved in renewable energy.
Renewable energy is seen by the UK Government as vital to helping cut harmful
CO2 emissions, as set out by the Climate Change Programme and subsequent
Energy White Paper. The Energy White Paper states that by 2010, renewable energy should be contributing 10% of the UK's electricity supply, and aim to double this by 2020, thus helping the country reach its ambitious target of UK carbon emission reductions.
This is being driven in particular by the Renewables Obligation, which aims to stimulate uptake of renewable energy by industry, commerce and the public sector.
Another significant measure is the recent revision of planning guidance in the form of Planning Policy Statement 22 (PPS22) on renewable energy, the consultation draft of which was published in November 2003. The aim of the revised document is to more accurately reflect Government support for renewables. This draft states that the planning system should seek to 'facilitate' such development and that the wider environmental and economic benefits of renewable energy projects should be given significant weight in the planning process. It also states that, with regard to local planning policy, such policies should promote, rather than restrict, renewable energy development.
Planners and councillors are pivotal to the uptake of renewable energy. We hope that this website will provide you with a balanced context of the benefits and issues surrounding each of the renewable energy options. Currently, biomass and, particularly, wind energy are the sources giving rise to most planning issues in the UK - yet they also boast some of the strongest potential. While ocean-based and large-scale hydroelectric sources will of course only be relevant in planning terms to those living either in coastal regions or in mountainous areas.
When preparing planning permission, the need is, of course, to balance local needs and interests with the broader national and global picture. We hope that this website provides you with the information you need to make informed decisions in your locality.
If you would like more information on any of the energy sources shown, please refer to the Links section of the site, where you will find links to many renewable energy trade associations.
In addition, please address any further queries you may have to internet.team@dti.gsi.gov.uk
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