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Summary | 6 Annotations
Great Britain's electricity system was the greenest it had ever been at lunchtime on Easter Bank Holiday Monday, its operator has said.Sunny and windy weather, coupled with low demand for power, led to a surge in renewable sources of energy, National Grid Electricity System Operator said.
2021/04/07 13:21
The National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) said levels of carbon pollution for each unit of electricity consumed dropped to just 39 grams of carbon dioxide - the lowest ever recorded for the grid - at 13:00 BST on Monday.It said wind power made up 39% of the energy mix, with solar at 21% and nuclear accounting for 16%.
2021/04/07 13:21
When Britain went into lockdown, electricity demand plummeted and the National Grid responded by taking power plants off the network and the four remaining coal-fired plants were among the first to be shut down.
2021/04/07 13:21
That will need much more energy storage than is currently available.The government aims to have almost all electricity produced from low carbon sources by 2030 - and despite this week's impressive results, there's still a very long way to go.
2021/04/07 13:21
Fintan Slye, director at National Grid ESO, said: "This latest record is another example of how the grid continues to transform at an astonishing rate as we move away from fossil fuel generation and harness the growth of renewable power sources."It's an exciting time, and the progress we're seeing with these records underlines the significant strides we're taking towards our ambition of being able to operate the system carbon free by 2025."
2021/04/07 13:21
Kate Blagojevic, head of climate at Greenpeace UK, praised the progress on taking fossil fuels out of the energy mix, but added that it was "no time for the UK government to rest on its laurels"."Carbon emissions from our homes, farms and roads remain stubbornly high, and only a major government intervention can unblock the impasse," she said."As the Glasgow climate summit looms closer, ministers really need to up their game on tackling UK carbon emissions right across the board."
2021/04/07 13:21