As a keen and green energy blogger I am always particularly interested in what governments and councils around the UK have to say about the environment and how they plan to tackle targets that are being set from above on a global scale.  I previously wrote a post on Scotland’s (very) ambitious plans on becoming a fully renewable nation by 2020, which of course is a great thing but remains to be seen if it can be carried out.

So I was doing a little bit of research and was interested in the Scotland own Celtic neighbours, Wales.  Once a world leader in carbon-based energy they now also hope to aspire to the same echelons in a low carbon world.  Wales wants to look to a new and better quality of energy supply and in their Programme for Government their ambition is clearly laid out:

                “To create a sustainable, low carbon economy for Wales.”

Wales wishes to generate double the renewable energy as it currently does by the year 2025 and by 2050 they would like all of their energy to come from green sources such as wind, water and bio-energies.  They wish to encourage Welsh people to microgenerate their own electricity; there is an entire section of information they offer on the wales.gov website providing as much information as one could need to get started.

Of course, as is recognised nationally, Wales sees the potential for economic growth with green targets having to be met.  In a country as small as Wales, jobs can often be a precious commodity, highlighted none more so that the pit closures of the 1980’s, leaving many miners out of work forcing the country into a downturn.

They have released a document which details the potential they see within the prominence of green energy and all the jobs that are created such as R&D, commercialisation energy company partnerships and so on.

So it seems that Wales is pretty set up to press ahead on with their renewable targets.  It is quite refreshing to see an official body such as the Welsh assembly be so vocal and passionate about being green and comparing that to the UK national government they are streets ahead in terms of enthusiasm and endeavour.

Whilst the UK government dig their heels in countries such as Scotland and Wales should be heralded for their staunch commitment whilst Cameron hides behind older, less forward thinking policies which anchor the good ship Albion and slow the progress when there are such wonderful opportunities economically at both home and abroad.

Michael Wood is a keen blogger and worked for six years with Swalec, a company whose commitment to renewable energy in Wales is paramount.  Michael’s work can be seen on many blogs such as The Green Energy Forum as well as Renewable Energy Vibe.