Green Energy
Decarbonising the nation W
How the National Grid cleaned up its act – and why the public followed suit.
ith the last coal-fired power station in the UK set to be closed later this year, Jordan Brompton, co-founder and CMO of myenergi, explores the UK’s remarkable progress towards decarbonising the national grid and explains the role that homeowners are playing in accelerating the transition to net zero.
At the turn of the millennium, power generated from coal accounted for nearly a third of the UK’s energy mix, peaking just shy of 40% in 2012, according to data from Ember Electricity Data Explorer (
ember-climate.org). Fast forward more than two decades, however, and it’s a very different story.
Low-carbon sources made up 56% of our total electricity generation in 2023, of which 43% was from renewables (primarily wind at around 30%, but also from solar, bioenergy, and hydroelectric),
and 13% from nuclear. Natural gas made up the majority of our fossil fuel use, at 31%, with coal dropping to a shadow of its former self at just 1%. This number is set to reach zero by the end of the year, with the UK’s last coal-fired plant ending operations by 1 October. This record decrease in fossil fuel use means the UK is now experiencing its lowest ever carbon electricity mix – with grid carbon intensity falling to a new low of 162gCO2/ kWh last year, which equates to a reduction of 18% compared to the previous 12 months. (Source: CarbonBrief
https://shorturl.at/BDETY) But this is just the start. As part of the UK’s continued efforts to decarbonise, the government has pledged a further £960 million of investment into renewable and low-carbon generation, grid networks and supporting infrastructure like hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS).
While supporting the delivery of up to 50GW of offshore wind power by 2030, this scheme also places a renewed focus on nuclear energy, with aims to deliver up to 24GW of new nuclear energy by 2050. Despite its limitations, scaling up nuclear is seen by many as a pragmatic approach for decarbonisation and as an essential energy source for completely eliminating our reliance on fossil fuels.
“Small-scale renewable energy generation technologies empower homeowners to take control of their consumption.”
22 | electrical wholesaler June 2024
ewnews.co.uk
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