To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of energy generated from renewable sources.

The latest estimate was published in the 2009 edition of the Digest of UK Energy Statistics, and relates to the calendar year 2008. Based on the agreed methodology used to monitor the EU Renewable Energy Directive, 2.3 per cent. of energy was derived from renewable sources during 2008. The 2009 estimate will be published in the 2010 edition of the Digest of UK Energy Statistics.

Additionally, provisional 2009 data on electricity generation were published in the March 2010 edition of Energy Trends. This showed that when excluding an estimate for non-bio degradable waste use, around 6.6 per cent. of electricity was generated from renewable sources in 2009.