Close to half of the UK’s electricity will come from renewable sources by 2025, according to Carbon Brief analysis of new government projections. This marks a significant increase on earlier projections, which as recently as 2016 saw renewables meeting less than a third of demand in 2025. At the same time, there are further cuts to the outlook for gas-fired electricity generation, which is now set to drop by two-fifths over the next six years. Nevertheless, the projections show the UK missing its legally binding carbon budgets for 2023- 2032 by even wider margins than expected last year. The fifth carbon budget for 2028-2032 is now set to be missed by as much as 20%, according to the new energy and emissions projections from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). These latest projections highlight the large gap between the UK’s current climate goals and the policies that would be required to deliver them. They arrive just weeks before the publication of formal advice that is likely to recommend even greater ambition, targeting net-zero emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.
Carbon Brief 12th April 2019 read more »
Updated energy and emissions projections, 2018. Projections of greenhouse gas emissions and energy demand from 2018 to 2035. (According to Doug Parr the report is pretty un-transparent but there is a graph on power sources. Assumes over 60TWh from nuclear in 2030. Dream on. Hinkley plus existing Sizewell = 35TWh. That’s over 40MtCO2 saving going missing.)
BEIS 11th April 2019 read more »