CLEAN ENERGY SOURCES OUTSTRIPPED FOSSIL FUELS FOR FIRST TIME IN 2019
It's as climate change seems set to increase in profile in the coming decade
Britain has reached an historic clean energy milestone with zero carbon electricity outstripping fossil fuels in 2019 for the first time, National Grid has said.
The past year was the cleanest on record for the British grid as zero carbon technology such as wind, solar and nuclear exceeded electricity supplies from polluting fuels such as coal and gas over the 12 months.
Data released by National Grid shows wind farms, hydro plants, solar and nuclear energy, alongside clean power imported by subsea cables known as interconnectors, delivered 48.5% of Britain's electricity in 2019.
That compares to 43% generated by fossil fuels.
The remaining 8.5% was generated by biomass, which is renewable but produces carbon emissions when the wood pellets used to make the power are burned, and waste.
The milestone comes as the UK reaches the halfway point to its legally-binding target of achieving "net zero" greenhouse gases - effectively cutting the country's emissions by 100% on 1990 levels - by 2050.
It is a dramatic change from 1990 when coal made up three-quarters of the power supply in Britain and wind, solar and hydro accounted for just 2.3%.
Published: by Radio NewsHub