UK Energy Industry Pledges Net Zero Power System in 2030s
October 27 2021 - 2:29AM
Dow Jones News
By Jaime Llinares Taboada
The U.K. energy sector on Wednesday committed to deliver a net
zero power generation system in the 2030s.
A few days before the COP26 climate change conference starts in
Glasgow, British companies represented by industry association
Energy UK have pledged to tackle the remaining 12% share of the
U.K.'s emissions that come from generating electricity.
According to the British government, power stations generated
50.1 million metric tons out of the total 414.1 million tons of
carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions in 2020. This was the lowest
since the data series began in 1990, when emissions attributed to
producing power totaled 203.0 million tons.
Carbon emissions from the U.K. power sector started to decrease
in the 1990s, when natural gas partially replaced coal. Emissions
have dropped further in recent years as renewables expanded and
coal-fired generation plunged.
In order to achieve the net zero power target, U.K. industry is
calling for a halt to investment in new, unabated gas generation
until clear plans for carbon capture and storage technologies and
low or zero carbon gas are put in place.
In Britain, around 40% of power is generated by burning gas.
Renewables account for around 23% and nuclear represents around
17%, with the remainder being met mostly by biomass, coal and
imports from other countries.
"The current challenges facing the energy sector, and the wider
economy, only emphasise the need to accelerate our journey to a
future where we won't be at the mercy of volatile fossil fuel
prices," Energy UK Chief Executive Emma Pinchbeck said.
Energy UK also demanded "clear market frameworks and funding
mechanisms," including a final decision on the financing model for
new nuclear reactors, and linking the U.K. Emissions Trading Scheme
to the European Union's ETS.
Write to Jaime Llinares Taboada at jaime.llinares@wsj.com;
@JaimeLlinaresT
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 27, 2021 02:14 ET (06:14 GMT)
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