‘Everything has changed, nothing has changed’: what’s stopping green energy

The case for rapid transition to renewables is stronger, but some developments are making it harder

On a breezy day in May, the Met Office issued a pithy forecast which would prove telling: Quite windy." In fact, on 25 May the UK set a record for wind power generation, 19.9 gigawatts - enough to cover more than half of Britain's electricity needs, or boil 3.5m kettles. So plentiful was the wind power that National Grid was forced to ask some turbines in the west of Scotland to shut down, as the network was unable to store such a large amount of electricity.

The episode represents a landmark which underlines both the progress of Britain's renewables industry and the potholes in the road to replacing fossil fuels. Just six months earlier, global leaders met in Glasgow with renewable energy high on the agenda.