In the next 20 years a substantial amount of the UK’s existing electricity generation capacity will close. How this capacity is replaced will have a major impact on the UK’s ability to meet its international and domestic carbon emissions reduction targets.

To explore this issue WWF-UK and Greenpeace commissioned Pöyry energy consultants to look at the implications for the UK electricity sector of meeting the UK’s share of the EU renewable energy target. This requires the UK to produce 15% of its energy from renewables by 2020.

The report was based on the assumption (supported by government analysis) that there was around 76GW of connected capacity in 2007. Of this, 22.5GW is expected to close by 2020. Pöyry constructed various scenarios of energy demand and renewable energy growth to ascertain whether these technologies would be able to meet the so-called ’energy gap’.

This report is a summary of the report Implications of the UK meeting its 2020 renewable energy targets.

Reacting to the news that Ed Miliband has been appointed Secretary of State at a new Department for Energy and Climate, Greenpeace Executive Director John Sauven said:

"For the last ten years this government has dithered on climate change, offering us inspiring rhetoric but little in the way of real action. Bringing energy and climate together at last reflects the urgency of the threat we face from climate change."

"Hopefully Ed Miliband will champion efforts to boost renewable energy end energy efficiency, as part of a plan to create the green collar jobs that Britain has so far lost to our European neighbours. The first test of his credibility will be whether he stops the UK's first new coal fired power station in over thirty years at Kingsnorth in Kent.

"It's vital that the civil servants who blocked progress on renewables and energy efficiency for so long at the Department for Business are left where they are. Miliband's new team needs to bring fresh thinking and new ideas to the challenge of climate change. Central to this must be a new, low carbon economy based on green manufacturing and green jobs."

The need for a bold response from a nation that considers itself a world leader in tackling climate change has never been clearer, yet on too many fronts, the UK government seems intent upon repeating the mistakes of the past. From runways to new coal fired power stations, the government’s plans for resurrecting the icons that are the principle cause of climate change continue, despite the breadth of opposition marshalled against them.

Within this context, the government's consultation on a new renewable energy strategy for the UK stands as a promising beacon of light. After years of timidity and failure, this consultation shows some small but encouraging signs that the government might just be starting to recognise the scale of potential for renewable energy in the UK.

As a contribution to the government's consultation process, this report systematically catalogues the history of initiatives, obligations and mechanisms introduced by the Labour government over the last decade to encourage renewable energy in the UK, providing a comprehensive critique of Labour's approach. It sets out clear recommendations for how the government can redress the missed opportunities over the last 10 years, and at last turn the UK into the renewable energy powerhouse it is so well placed to become, leading the world in showcasing the real solutions to the challenges of climate change and energy security.