Growth in green energy backing

Investment by companies into renewable energy projects in the UK has risen sharply this year but is still well down on 2009 levels.

The Government said £2.5bn of new, privately funded projects had been announced since April. That marks an improvement on the £2.1bn measured in the whole of 2010 by research group Pew Environment. The projects will create nearly 12,000 jobs across the country.

Companies held off investing in new projects in 2010 because of uncertainty around the policies of the new Government. However, with more details published, the investment taps appear to be turning back on.

Levels of investment are still far from the £7.1bn levels recorded by Pew in 2009.

Shadow Energy Secretary Caroline Flint said: "The UK has fallen from third to 13th in the world for investment in green growth, behind countries like Brazil and India."