46% of UK’s electricity from clean energy sources in 2015

28th July 2016 | Commercial Energy

Almost half of the UK’s electricity was generated from clean energy sources in 2015: renewables accounted for a quarter of the country’s power supplies in 2015, which is the first time that this surpassed coal power. In total, low-carbon power sources, which produce little in the way of greenhouse gas emissions, supplied a record 46% of the UK’s electricity in 2015.
Coal supplied just over a fifth (22%) of power in 2015, down from 30% in 2014, while gas continued to provide about 30% of the UK’s electricity. Nuclear’s contribution rose from 19% in 2014 to 21% in 2015, figures from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy reveal.
Onshore and offshore wind turbines and solar panels increased, and higher wind speeds and higher rainfall boosted hydropower, creating more clean energy.
UK’s largest coal-fired power station, Drax in North Yorkshire, switched one unit from coal to mostly burning biomass – most of which is wood pellets.
The Government wants to phase out polluting coal-fired power stations by 2025 as part of its efforts to tackle climate change, but only if new gas plants can be built to meet demand.
The UK has a target under European Union rules to source 15% of its energy from renewables by 2020.
More information available on the website below
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/28/record-46-of-uks-electricity-generated-by-clean-energy-sources-in-2015