Wednesday 10th June 2020 marks a significant milestone in the shift towards renewable energy. This milestone marks two full months without coal to generate power for the country. Only 10 years ago, 40% of the UK’s electricity came from coal, and at the same time only around 3% of the country’s energy came from wind and solar. While Covid-19 is part of this milestone, it’s only part of the story. The fact is we have been making significant strives for a while now, to reduce the reliance on polluting fossil fuels, such as coal.
Coal fired power stations continue to be demolished around the UK:
This new record going coal-free supersedes the current record, which stood at just 18 days, 6 days and 10 minutes. This was set back in June 2019.
These records only apply to Britain only as Northen Ireland is not on the National Grid.
The Rise of Renewables:
The UK now has the largest offshore wind industry in the world. It also has the largest wind farm too. It was only back in December 2016 when renewable power out-generated fossil fuels.
With a slowdown in gas too, there is a chance that renewables will overtake fossil fuels in entirety in 2020…..This demonstrates how fast this turnaround has happened.
Hydrogen gas is one renewable energy source that we have been reporting on for a while, and as a company are actively involved in developing. It’s very possible that soon, having hydrogen as a form of energy will be commonplace. We are already developing and testing fires that can run safely on hydrogen – which are not for sale yet. Here you can learn more about how hydrogen gas fires are helping to decarbonise the national grid. Hy4Heat are the driving force behind hydrogen as a possible energy source. This is what they’re all about:
Hy4Heat – Their Mission:
“To establish if it is technically possible, safe, and convenient to replace natural gas (methane) with hydrogen in residential and commercial buildings and gas appliances. This will enable the government to determine whether to proceed to a community trial.” More can be found at their website – https://www.hy4heat.info/
