This good news story shows the trend in energy production going in the right direction. Since the introduction of the feed in tariff in 2011 we have all been very busy installing renewable energy systems.
As the green party comments in this article, we should maintain the momentum and keep installing embedded generators to provide renewable energy throughout our grid network.
The feed in tariff is due to come to an end in 2016 and is already very much wound down. The rates were tied to installed generation capacity and as the uptake of renewables has been good the reductions have been high. We have seen up to 40% a year knocked off the revenue for technologies such as wind.
The idea was that as more renewables were installed the cost would drop in line with the tariff rate reduction. Where this has been true for solar panels, the already established technologies of wind and hydro have not followed suit. Valuable energy potential from hydro systems below 30 kW are, in many cases, economically unviable. A 30 kW system would offset the annual electrical energy requirement of 32 homes.
The green subsidy of the feed in tariff has given renewables a level playing field against the heavily subsidised, conventional generators. It seems as though the value of these embedded, renewable systems, providing power locally and reducing our need to burn coal, is once again marginalised.
Large fall in UK greenhouse gas emissions of over 8% last year
The biggest fall in emissions since 1990 saw carbon dioxide output drop by almost a tenth while energy from renewable sources rose to a record high of almost 20% of electricity, government figures show.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/26/large-fall-in-uk-greenhouse-gas-emissions-of-over-8-last-year