The latest set of energy figures released by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) showed the UK's production of electricity in 2018 was up 2.9% on 2017, driven by growth in oil, wind, solar, bioenergy, and waste.
Although coal reached a record low and declined 25% while natural gas fell 3.8%, overall fossil fuel production increased.
Illustrating the mixed picture, the UK’s overall emissions fell by 9.1 million tonnes, a year-on-year 2.4% decrease, which was the result of more renewable electricity sources. Renewables made up 33% of electricity in 2018, which was up from 29.2% in 2017.
Yet fossil fuels still make up 79.4% of the overall energy supply while renewables still only account for 11% of the final consumption. The UK target is for that figure to be 20% by 2020 and although each year sets new records for renewables, the pace of change isn’t fast enough, currently sitting at 12% increase year on year between 2017 and 2018.
Primary energy consumption was nearly unchanged on 2017 but on a temperature adjusted basis primary energy consumption was down 1.1% continuing the downward trend of the last ten years. UK temperatures were broadly similar, while there was an increase in heating degree days compared to 2017.
Final energy consumption rose by 1.1% as demand for heating increased during February and March 2018 with temperature adjusted final energy consumption up by 0.2% on 2017 levels, as a result of the ‘”Beast from the East” weather.
In March, BEIS revealed that preliminary UK emissions data for 2018 showed the UK has now reached the same levels recorded in 1890, having fallen 3% last year.
Reported by Edie.
Photo by Dominik Vanyi on Unsplash
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