Renewable Energy (Hansard, 3 December 2002)

§ Malcolm Bruce
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people in the UK are employed in the renewable energy industry. [85104]

§ Mr. Wilson
At present, there are no authoritative figures on the number of people employed in the renewable energy sector. Renewables UK plans to undertake a collaborative study of the renewable supply chain covering all technologies for publication in the second half of 2003. One aim of this study is to detail how many people are employed across the whole renewable energy sector.

§ Malcolm Bruce
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of licensed electricity suppliers fulfilled all of their obligations under the Renewables Obligation through the purchase of green certificates in 2001. [85319]

§ Mr. Wilson
The Renewables Obligation only came into effect on 1 April 2002, so electricity suppliers were not under any obligation in 2001. The Gas and Electricity Markets Authority are required by the Renewables Obligation Order to maintain a register holding specific information on the Renewables Obligation Certificates and to publish an annual report on the performance of the Obligation.
The first such report will cover the financial year 2002–03.