There are a range of sources providing facts and figures relevant to the renewable energy sector. Please find some of the main sources of information on energy and environmental data.
UK Energy Data
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) publish energy statistics for the UK. These cover the production, transformation, consumption, efficiency stocks, trade and prices.
There are a range of statistical publications that are available from the website. The following are the two publications which are frequently referenced:
- The Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) is published annually in July and provides a comprehensive picture of UK energy production and use over the last five years, with key series taken back to 1970. Chapter 7 covers renewable energy.
- Energy Trends is published quarterly and contains energy statistics covering all major aspects of the UK energy sector.
Energy statistics by sector on a monthly, quarterly and annual are available in Excel
Renewable Energy Data
The Renewable Energy STATisticS database (RESTATS), contains performance statistics on all relevant renewable energy sources in the UK.
Renewable Electricity Data
The Renewables and CHP Register is available from the Ofgem website and contains information on the Renewables Obligation (RO), the small scale Feed-in Tariff (FITs), the Climate Change Levy (CCL) and the Renewable Electricity Guarantees of Origin (REGOs).
The register provides instant access to real time data, including details of the total number of Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) issued and accredited stations under the RO. It also contains the number of installations registered under the FITs.
Ofgem also publish an annual report that includes information on how licensed electricity suppliers complied with their obligations in this period, the number of Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) issued and detail on generators accredited for the schemes.
RO Sustainability Data
In 2009 the Renewables Obligation Order introduced the requirements for generating stations using biomass fuels to report against sustainability criteria. This data us available from the fuelled station pages on the Ofgem website.
The Carbon Calculator
The UK Carbon Calculator is developed for calculating carbon intensity and greenhouse gas (GHG) saving of bioliquids and biofuels used as transport fuels or for electricity generation.
REPD – Planning Data
The Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD) tracks the progress of projects from inception, through planning, construction and operational phases.
Transport Data
Biofuels
The Department for Transport (DfT) publishes statistics on the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO). It includes information on the percentage of road fuel supplied in the UK that is made up of renewable fuel and well as information on its sustainability.
Energy and Environment
Statistics on the impact of transport on energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions from transport and pollution from transport are also available from the DfT website. These include statistical tables, Factsheets summarising information published elsewhere on transport and climate change, and survey results.
Heat Data
Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI)
Data on installations registering under the scheme should be available in the future from the Ofgem website.
Renewable Heat Premium Payment
The Energy Saving Trust publishes statistics on how many vouchers have been issued under the scheme including statistics per technology and country.
UK Climate Change and Environmental Data
Climate Change Statistics
A range of statistics which relate to climate change; UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG), GHG monitoring and verification, and impacts on climate change are available from the BEIS website.
Environmental and Wildlife Data
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) publishes data on waste and recycling, air quality, coastal and marine waters, and also sustainable development indicators.
Construction Data
The Construction Products Association (CPA) publishes a range of data on the construction industry.
EU and International Sources
Eurostat
Eurostat is the statistical office of the European Union it provides the European Union with statistics at European level that enable comparisons between countries and regions. The Energy and Environment theme provides the relevant data for the renewables industry.
International Energy Agency (IEA)
The IEA publishes international energy statistics for many countries around the world
National Biofuel Supply Database
Biomass Energy Centre has been working with the Carbon Trust to develop a new and improved fuel supplier database with new map based listing. To find a fuel supplier near you look here or to register as a supplier look here. The service is free to use and woodfuel suppliers can get involved at no cost by simply registering and submitting their details online. Those looking to take advantage of the soon-to-be-released Renewable Heating Incentive (RHI) by heating their buildings or factories with wood will now find it easier to identify local and national companies which can supply them with woodfuel.
Calculators
CO2 Saving – Heat
A calculator for the carbon dioxide saved by renewable heat generation
Solar thermal used for domestic water heating usually displaces either electricity or gas, and on this basis, quantifying emissions is very straightforward.
Natural gas, when used for heat production emits 224g CO2/KWhth.
If a house with a solar thermal panel otherwise heats water by electric immersion heater, then greater savings are achieved. It would be most appropriate to use the average grid rolling average figures published by DEFRA – 594g CO2 – eq/KWh.
Similar savings are achieved from heat production from biomass, again depending on the form of heating that is being displaced. The table below can be used, to show savings.
|
Heating source displaced by biomass |
Emission saving, g/kWhth or Kg/MWth |
|---|---|
|
Natural Gas |
224.2 |
|
Kerosene |
286 |
|
Diesel Oil |
319 |
|
LPG |
259 |
|
Coal |
405-413 |
Energy Unit converter
Conversions between different energy units
Use this simple table
|
Unit |
Multiplied by |
Approximate Conversion Factor |
Equals |
Unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
kilowatt hours (kWh) |
X |
3.6 |
= |
megajoules (MJ) |
|
tonnes of oil equivalent |
X |
41.868 |
= |
gigajoules (GJ) |
|
tonnes of oil equivalent |
X |
11,630 |
= |
kilowatt hours |
There are many (free and chargeable) unit converter programmes on the internet to convert a broader range of units.
Household electricity
A calculator to estimate how many households are served by a renewable generating station
The number of households served is often used as a way of getting across the benefits of a proposed development.
Take the output figure (MWh) and divide it by one of the figures in the table below.
|
MWh per year |
context |
|---|---|
|
4.9 |
This is the overall average and is based on taking the total domestic electricity consumption in the UK and dividing it by the total number of households. |
|
3.7 |
This is the annual average for households connected to the gas network and that use gas for cooking and heating. |
|
3.3 |
This is the figure published by Ofgem in January 2011, which showed no change compared with the figure published by Energywatch in 2003 |
Electricity output
A calculator for the typical output of a renewable generating station
To calculate this, multiply the
Capacity (in MW) x capacity factor (see table below) x 8,760 (the number of hours in a year)
Typical capacity factors:
|
Technology |
Typical capacity factor |
|---|---|
|
Wind |
0.25 – 0.35 depending on location (0.3 most often used) |
|
Combustion projects, eg landfill gas, sewage gas, AD, biomass, etc |
0.5-0.9 |
|
Wave |
0.30 |
|
Tidal stream |
0.35 |
|
Solar photovoltaics |
The figure that installers must use to project electricity generation under the Feed-in Tariff scheme is 0.097, but this is based on solar levels in England’s East Pennines region. For other locations a figure for energy generation (with a monthly breakdown) can be obtained by entering you exact location at the following website |
This will give you a MWh figure (Megawatt hours) for one year
CO2 saving – electricity
A calculator for the carbon dioxide saved by renewable power generation.
Every unit of electricity that is generated from a renewable energy source results in a direct saving of greenhouse gases that would have been produced had that unit of electricity been generated by non-renewable plant. First, work out how much electricity will be generated by the plant. Multiply the capacity by the load factor, and then by 8,760 (number of hours in a year). Then multiply, in KWh, the answer by 0.594 to calculate the KG of CO” equivalent saved per year. The Figure of 0.594 is that published by DEFRA for the purpose of company reporting, and represents the grid rolling average for 2009. The figures are updated yearly. The figure used within Building Regulations part L 2010 in 0.517.
Carbon calculator - renewable transport fuels
The carbon calculator is a standalone programme that contains default values for the carbon emissions associated with various types of biofuels. It allows fuel suppliers to calculate the carbon saved on a batch of fuels, as an alternative to looking up values in the C&S guidance tables. It should reduce the potential for errors. This calculator can be found on the Department for Renewable Transport website.