The latest statistics show the amount electricity used in the UK continued to grow in 2010, but engineers on renewable energy courses will be pleased to see the supply from sustainable sources also going up.

Released on Thursday (July 28th), the Department of Energy and Climate Change study demonstrated the total energy consumed rose 3.2 per cent, although on a temperature-adjusted basis it actually fell by 0.4 per cent.

The proportion of UK electricity generated from renewables during the year was 6.8 per cent.

"On the basis of the policy measurement of the contribution of renewables eligible under the Renewables Obligation to UK electricity sales, 2010 showed a 0.3 percentage point increase," a representative from the government explained.

The country's onshore wind capacity rose by 16 per cent, offshore wind climbed 42 per cent and there was a nine per cent increase in biomass and waste-driven potential.

This week, the government approved an application for the construction of a dry fuel store at the Sizewell B Nuclear Power Station at Leiston in Suffolk.

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