Sunday 8 April 2012

UK energy


UK energy production falls by 14%
The UK's energy production fell by 14% last year as a result of falls in gas and oil output from the continental shelf, Government figures showed.



26 February, 2012

But the production of low carbon energy increased, with nuclear power output up by more than a tenth (11%) and wind power from major producers rising 59% due to more turbines and higher wind speeds last year.

Gas now supplies just over two-fifths (41%) of electricity from major power producers in the UK, down from almost half (48%) in the previous year, as other sources take a bigger share of energy production.

Estimates from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) suggest nuclear now accounts for 20% of UK electricity generation, with wind up from 2.4% to 4% in a year, and hydro up from 0.8% to 1.5% due to heavy rain in northern Scotland.

Overall, low-carbon energy sources supplied a quarter of the UK's electricity needs in 2011, up 5% from the previous year.

The Government's climate change advisers have said the country needs to switch virtually all its electricity generation to low-carbon sources by 2030 as part of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050.

The figures from Decc also reveal that energy consumption in the UK last year was down 7%, largely due to 2011 being the second warmest year on record which reduced the need for heating.

When the warmer temperatures were taken into account energy use fell by 2%, continuing a five-year trend.

Oil production fell 17% and gas was down by a fifth, as a result of maintenance activity and slowdowns on the UK continental shelf, but gas exports were at record levels and the UK still exports significant quantities of petroleum products.

However, the UK now depends on imports for almost half (48%) of its gas. In 2011 there were large increases in imports of liquefied natural gas, with imports from Qatar matching the amount of gas piped from Norway, Decc said

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