Climate and energy website Carbon Brief found that UK carbon emissions have fallen by nearly a third in the past decade, even as the economy has grown by a fifth.
The country emitted 354 million tonnes of carbon dioxide last year – a reduction of 29 per cent since 2010.
The analysis, which comes ahead of official government estimates, also suggests the UK’s emissions of the key greenhouse gas fell by 2.9 per cent in 2019 alone.
That figure puts pollution at its lowest level since 1888, excluding years with general strikes.
Emissions in the UK have fallen every year for the past seven years – which marks the longest run of ongoing reductions on record.
At the same time, economic output measured as gross domestic product (GDP) has risen by 18 per cent, or nearly a fifth, the data shows.
That the UK’s carbon emissions have fallen by almost a third over the last decade, to the lowest level since 1888, shows how quickly the energy sector has been moving to low-carbon generation,’ said Energy UK’s interim chief executive Audrey Gallacher.
‘And as this analysis shows, importantly this transition has been partnered by economic growth.’
Some 54 per cent of electricity generation in the UK is now from low-carbon sources, including 37 per cent from renewables and 20 per cent from wind alone.
But with less than 30 years to go to meet the legally binding target to reduce the UK’s emissions to net zero by 2050, the transformation has to ‘further and faster than this’, Gallacher said, including in areas such as heating and transport.
That the UK’s carbon emissions have fallen by almost a third over the last decade, to the lowest level since 1888, shows how quickly the energy sector has been moving to low-carbon generation,’ said Energy UK’s interim chief executive Audrey Gallacher.
‘And as this analysis shows, importantly this transition has been partnered by economic growth.’
Some 54 per cent of electricity generation in the UK is now from low-carbon sources, including 37 per cent from renewables and 20 per cent from wind alone.
But with less than 30 years to go to meet the legally binding target to reduce the UK’s emissions to net zero by 2050, the transformation has to ‘further and faster than this’, Gallacher said, including in areas such as heating and transport.
‘That’s why the forthcoming Budget and energy white paper need to show widespread ambition and action across these areas and unleash much more of the innovation and investment that has delivered these results over the last decade.’
The Carbon Brief report also found that carbon emissions from coal have fallen 80 per cent over the past decade, compared with a 20 per cent reduction from gas and 6 per cent from oil.
Over the past year alone, meanwhile, falling coal use for power has seen emissions from the fossil fuel fall 28 per cent, compared with a reduction in carbon dioxide from gas and oil of less than 1 per cent each.
Most of the reduction in coal use came from the power sector, which accounted for 93 per cent of the overall fall in coal demand in 2019.
There were 83 days in 2019 when the UK went without coal power, including a record 18-day stretch in May.
Carbon Brief’s estimates of the UK’s CO2 emissions in 2019 are based on analysis of provisional energy use figures published by Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
The biggest contributor to falling emissions over the decade has been improvement in energy intensity – the amount of energy needed for each unit of economic output – which reflects how energy efficiency has improved.
The second-largest contributor has been a shift towards cleaner fuels and largely renewable electricity sources such as wind and solar.
Between them, these factors have more than offset the impact of a rising population and growing GDP, Carbon Brief said.
Electric vehicle sales are also surging, making up 3.4 per cent of the UK car market as of last September.
Diesel cars are losing out to petrol in the wake of the Volkswagen emissions scandal over the last five years, when the car maker was found to violate emissions standards.
Despite the promising cuts to carbon emissions, government projections from last year suggest the UK will miss its legally binding carbon targets later this decade.
To meet these targets, carbon dioxide emissions would need to fall another 31 per cent by 2030 – however, government projections expect just a 10 per cent cut.
Former UK Prime Minister Theresa May announced a legally binding target for the UK to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The UK – and the world – have entered what the UN has called a ‘decade of action’ in the 2020s, if global goals to limit rising temperatures are to be met.
Source: dailymail
