Renewable power overtakes fossil fuels for first time in UK
Renewables overtook fossil fuels to be the biggest source of electricity in the UK for the first time in 2020, a report shows.
Wind, solar, bioenergy and hydropowergeneratedarecord 42 per cent of UK power last year, while fossil fuels - mostly gas-produced41percent,analysis from think tanks Ember and Agora Energiewende found.
In2019,renewablesgenerated 37percentoftheuk'selectricity compared with 45 per cent for fossil fuels.
Renewables also overtook fossil fuels as the main source of electricity for the European Union in 2020, with Germany and Spain reaching the same tipping point.
In the UK, the share of power from wind turbines continues to increase, making up nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of generation in 2020, double the share it had just five years ago and up from 20 per cent in 2019.
Coalpower,whichisduetobe phased out by as early as 2024, accounted for just 2 per cent of electricity production in 2020, whilegasfellfrom41percentof generation in 2019 to 37 per centin2020,theanalysisshows.
It is a massive transformation of the UK'S power system, which only a decade ago generated more than three-quarters of its power from fossil fuels, mostly gas and coal, and just a small fraction - 7 per cent in 2010 - from renewables.
Charlesmoore,ember'seuropean programme lead, said: "It is clear the UK has started its journey towards gas power phase-out in 2035 as recommendedbytheclimatechange Committee."
Thecommittee,theuk'sindependent climate adviser, has said there needs to be a phaseout of gas power plants which do not have technology to capture their carbon emissions by 2035 as part of efforts to tackle climate change.
Solarpower,whichgenerates 4 per cent of UK electricity, has barelygrownsince2018,which the analysts said reflects a lack ofsupportivepoliciesforinstallingthetechnology,whilenuclearaccountedforlessthanafifth (17 per cent).
Bioenergy generated 12 per cent of the UK'S electricity in 2020, rising slightly since 2019, which the analysts said raises concerns over relying on biomass such as burning wood from forests to replace coal, whichmaynotdeliverthesame benefitsfortheclimateasother renewables.