Vol. 500 No. 6
33 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the percentage of electricity being generated from natural resources such as hydro-electricity schemes and wind farm operations; and the objective for the production of electricity from wind farms. [4549/99]
Approximately 5 per cent of electricity was generated from renewable and alternative sources of energy in 1997. This is expected to increase to 7 per cent by the end of 1999.
The EU White Paper on Renewables has set an indicative objective of 12 per cent penetration by renewables across the EU as a whole by the year 2010. The Green Paper on Sustainable Energy will explore the options available to contribute to the EU target and I expect to publish it shortly.
