Renewable energy defines power sources that are rapidly replaced by natural processes and emit no greenhouse gases or are carbon neutral over their life cycle. Examples include sunlight (solar), hydropower (water falling through a dam), wind power (on shore and off shore), bio-mass (crops that are burned for energy), tidal or wave energy.  
 
In 2001, the UK government provided funding for the development of renewable energies as part of its approach to sustainable development and within the context of the UK's climate change programme. The government's target is that the contribution of licensed electricity sales from renewables will have risen to 10% by 2010. 
 
The target for the South West is that by 2010 11-15% of licensed electricity will be produced from renewable sources. This is a challenging target as currently only 1.3% of electricity in the region is generated from renewable sources.

Regen SW is the renewable energy agency for the South West of England. It acts as a catalyst for the development of renewable energy in the South West, aiming to:

increase the amount of high quality renewable energy projects on the ground;

maximise the social, economic & environmental benefits to the South West from the growth of the sustainable energy industry.

The following publications are available:

Feasibility Study for Regional Renewable Energy Office (Adobe Acrobat Reader Document - 281.22kb) 
 
Strategic Framework for the Development of Renewable Energy in the South West (Adobe Acrobat Reader Document - 649.07kb) 
 
Resources, constraints and development scenarios for wave/tidal stream power in SW England: Summary (Adobe Acrobat Reader Document - 842.51kb) - A copy of the full report is available on the Regen SW website