In one month alone, Scotland powered the equivalent of more than 5 million homes using renewable wind energy. That’s pretty impressive, considering that’s more than twice the number of households in Scotland.
In an analysis of wind power data provided by WeatherEnergy, the World Wildlife Fund found that onshore wind turbines in the country provided more than 5 million megawatt hours of electricity to the National Grid during the first three months of this year – a 44 percent increase over this time last year.
The good news doesn’t stop there. The analysis comes after data released at the end of last month showed renewable electricity generation in Scotland grew by 26 percent last year, for a total of 68 percent of the nation’s overall electricity demand coming from renewables. Wind generation went up by 34 percent and hydro by 9 percent in 2017.
March 1 was the country’s best day of generation, when 110,149 MWh was enough to power more than 9 million homes (374 percent of Scottish households). Total demand for that day was less than half of that.
“Renewables have provided an incredible amount of power during the first three months of this year,” said WWF Scotland’s acting director Sam Gardner in a statement. “An increase of 44 percent on the record-breaking equivalent period in 2017 is clear evidence the investment made in this technology has paid off for the economy and the environment, putting Scotland at the forefront of the fight against climate change.”
It puts Scotland on target to meet a goal of generating 100 percent of its electricity and 11 percent of its heat demand from renewable energy by 2020.
Other countries have made serious commitments to their relationship with renewables too. Take Denmark, who in the past has been able to not only meet its domestic electricity demand but also export power to Norway, Germany, and Sweden. By 2030, the country plans to have renewables cover at least half of its total energy consumption.
China is also leading the carbon-cutting cause and looks to be on track to overcome its declared “war on pollution”. The country plans to have 4.5 percent of its total energy generation come from renewable energy sources by 2020.
Nearly every nation in the world has established a policy related to renewable energy. You can see how your country stacks up here.
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