Britain’s low carbon and renewable energy economy has shrunk slightly, according to the latest official statistics.
Figures released today by the Office for National Statistics show the sectors generated a direct turnover of £43.1 billion in 2015, compared to £44.2 billion the year before.
England accounted for £34.9 billion of the total turnover, while Scotland generated £5.5 billion, Wales accounted for £1.7 billion and Northern Ireland was worth £1 billion.
The renewable sector on its own generated a turnover of £14.9 billion in 2015.
The statistics also show the total number of full-time equivalent workers, directly employed in the sector fell marginally from 238,000 in 2014 to 234,000 in 2015.
Although, the ONS figures also showed the number of workers in Scotland employed in the low carbon and renewables sector rose – both directly and indirectly – to 58,500 in 2015, up from 43,500 in 2014.
“These are impressive figures that show how the Scottish Government’s focus on decarbonising our energy system has not only allowed us to meet our climate change obligations, and to have done so early, but it has also significantly boosted the Scottish economy,” said Scottish energy minister, Paul Wheelhouse.
Lindsay Roberts, a senior policy manager at Scottish Renewables, commented the official figures demonstrate the “important economic impact of Scotland’s renewable energy sector”.
“Technologies like wind, hydro, renewable heat and solar are delivering significant levels of employment and investment across the country and it’s crucial that renewed ambitions for the sector, set out in Scotland’s draft Energy Strategy, are complemented by the right support from government, both at Westminster and in Edinburgh,” said Roberts.
The Renewable Energy Association’s head of policy and external affairs, James Court, said: “The growth of renewables worldwide will not be stopped by any one government, but countries can be left behind. In the UK, we had an intellectual lead in wind, marine and bioenergy and let that slip away. It will be unforgivable if we let that slip again in cleantech technologies such as storage and electric vehicles.
“Investment in renewables is exploding and overtaking fossil fuels around the world, just at the time the UK government has removed and blocked renewables, even the cheapest technologies such as solar and wind. We need the government to get behind the renewables industry before we lose more ground.”
But the general secretary of the TUC, Frances O’Grady said the ONS figures showed the UK is “losing out on good quality jobs” and “falling behind the competition for the industries that will dominate the 21st century”.