Green energy 'bucking recession'

Green energy firms in the South West have reported a significant increase in turnover in the past year, according to a survey.

Government agency Regen South West interviewed 100 businesses and found that they had created a total of 600 new jobs in the past year.

Their total turnover rose in the same period from £108m to £200m.

Regen said the results showed that the sustainable energy sector was bucking the economic downturn.

One firm that is expanding is Forever Fuels, a wood fuel supplier that has recently set up a primary distribution depot in Avonmouth, near Bristol, and is looking to establish a smaller depot in Okehampton, Devon.

Five years since entering the wood fuel market, the company is the largest supplier of wood pellets to the UK biomass market.

In 2008 it accounted for about a third of all sales of wood pellets in the UK.

Ian Armstrong, from Forever Fuels, said: "We see the South West as being at the forefront of renewable technologies in the UK, and an area that will experience a significant increase in demand for wood pellet-powered heating systems in future years."