§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list, by source, the targets for renewable energy by(a) 2003, (b) 2005 and (c) 2010; and if she will make a statement. [2517]
§ Mr. WilsonThe Government have proposed targets of obtaining 5 per cent. of our electricity from renewable sources by 2003 and 10 per cent. by 2010, subject to the cost to consumers being acceptable. No target has been set for 2005.
37W We are very reliant on the old support mechanism, the non-fossil fuel obligation, for the deployment of renewables up to 2003. The new renewables obligation will be the main driver towards achieving our 2010 target.
The renewables obligation is a market-led approach and we will not be specifying percentage targets to be achieved by particular renewable energy technologies. By 2010, however, we envisage strong contributions from offshore wind and energy crops as well as from more established technologies.