UKs energy sector still dependent on high carbon imports
The UK still relies on high carbon imports for its energy, according to new government statistics. They show coal generation squeezing out gas, lots of fossil fuel imports, and still not much low carbon energy.
Coal generation
2012 was a good year for coal generators. Coal accounted for 39 per cent of the UK’s electricity generation, almost 9 per cent more than in 2011, as the graph below shows.
This was largely because coal was cheap compared to gas. The main reason is tha the US’s shale gas boom meant it exported more coal to the European market, driving the price down.
This squeezed gas generation, which fell 12 per cent on the year before to supply 28 per cent of the UK’s electricity – still the UK’s second biggest source.
Import dependency
The UK imported 43 per cent of its energy in 2012, a lot of it the form of coal and gas. Imports also include electricity that comes via connectors with the continent and Ireland.
This continues a long term trend – the UK has been becoming more dependent on energy imports since the early 80s, as the chart below shows:
Most of the UK’s gas comes through pipelines connected to Norwegian and Dutch supply. But the UK is increasingly importing liquefied natural gas (LNG).
98 per cent of the UK’s LNG came from Qatar in 2012.
Chancellor George Osborne recently announced tax breaks to try and incentivise a domestic shale gas industry. But it’s unlikely domestic gas production will reverse the UK’s increasing import dependency.
Low carbon generation
The UK’s renewable electricity generating capacity rose significant in 2012 by 27 per cent.
But the proportion of the UK’s energy which came from low carbon sources – including nuclear and bioenergy – was basically unchanged, because of an continued reliance onfossil fuels for heating.
In 2012, as in 2011, about 12 per cent of our energy came from low carbon sources.
Image - DUKES low carbon (note)
Renewables are slowly increasing their share of electricity generation. The percentage of electricity that came from renewables increased to 11.3 per cent in 2012, up from 9.4 in 2011.
Offshore wind generation was the major source of the increase, generating 46 per cent more electricity than a year before.
But the proportion of the UK’s low carbon energy supply is still about half the European average.
UK’s high carbon energy mix
The UK continues to rely on coal and gas for energy, much of it imported.
Coal-fired electricity generation may not survive in the long run, as the EU’s Large Combustion Plant Directive will require many plants to close, and the House of Lords looks to close a coal loophole in the draft energy bill.
But despite renewables making some headway in electricity generation in capacity terms, the statistics show the UK is still a long way from a low carbon economy.