14 DAY TRIAL // According to a new report issued by energy market data specialists EnAppSys, the United Kingdom's energy sector got somewhat greener over the course of the year 2013.
This happened not because graffiti artists started using green spray paint to draw on energy plants and other similar facilities, but because its carbon emissions fell to a considerable extent.
Click Green tells us that, in said year, electricity generation in the United Kingdom released about 127 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the planet's atmosphere.
When compared to the year 2012, this represents a drop of about 7%, the same source details. Besides, last year's amount of carbon pollution linked to the energy sector is said to be the second lowest in the last five years.
The EnAppSys specialists who documented the carbon footprint of the United Kingdom's energy sector in 2013 explain that this drop in emissions was largely due to the fact that several coal plants were pulled the plug on, and wind farms across the country experienced an increase in their output.
“Last year several older coal-fired stations were closed down as a part of an EU-led directive to reduce Europe-wide sulphur and nitrous oxide emissions and the introduction of the UK’s carbon floor price,” says EnAppSys’ Paul Verril.
As far as wind farms are concerned, it would appear that, last year, such facilities produced enough power to account for 6% of the country's overall energy output. What's more, the amount of electricity they generated was 48% higher than it was the year before.
Lastly, the EnAppSys report points out the fact that, since the country's overall power demand has been steadily decreasing over the past few years, it was only natural that carbon emissions would also be reduced.
Paul Verril predicts that, in the years to come, the energy sector in the United Kingdom will continue to cut down on the amount of carbon pollution it annually produces.
“In terms of carbon emissions, levels are expected to decline in the future as more coal fired plants are taken offline to be replaced by gas fired plants and as renewable sources increase,” he says.
Furthermore, “However, there may be a temporary hiatus as existing nuclear power stations are not replaced with new ones before they are decommissioned.”