The Netherlands continues to lead the way with bikes far outnumbering peopleCycling infrastructure is taking over cities the world over, in the hope of reducing society's dependency on polluting vehiclesDespite positive steps being taken, humans continue to have a wildly adverse effect on the climate.
Total wind generation in the UK rose by 13% in 2019 to a record 64 terawatt-hours (TWh), according to the Government’s Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics (DUKE). Wind speeds in 2019 were down on 2018, by 0.31 knots on average, but this was more than offset by additional capacity coming online, the government said. Extreme downpours in Carlisle in the winter of 2015 saw the previous record flood level being eclipsed by two feetHebden Bridge in West Yorkshire has flooded repeatedly in the past decade, with the worst coming on Christmas Day 2015. Major flooding events continued through the decade with the UK government declaring flooding as one of the nation's major threats in 2017," says Mr Smith of Climate VisualsWeather has been more extreme in Britain in recent years. Ethiopia recently planted a reported 350 million trees in a single day Morocco has undertaken the most ambitious solar power scheme in the world, recently completing a solar plant the size of San FranciscoElectric cars are taking off as a viable alternative to fossil fuel burning vehicles and major cities across the world are adding charging points to accomodateCities around the world are embracing cycling too, as a clean (and healthy) mode of transport. No other reproduction or distribution is permitted without prior written consent. BEIS attributes this mainly to a decreased use of heating.Going forward, RenewableUK is hoping for sectors like heat and transport to decarbonise at the pace seen to date in the UK’s electricity sector.“We need innovative power sources like floating wind, wave and tidal power, renewable hydrogen and a massive expansion in battery storage to get us to net zero emissions as fast as possible – so there’s no time to rest on our laurels,” Onn said.Similarly, the Renewable Energy Association's (REA) chief executive Dr Nina Skorupska said: "The slow and modest growth of decarbonising heat and transport also needs to be highlighted....The UK still has legally binding targets to reach 15% renewable energy by this year and hese figures for 2019 demonstrate that power is doing all the heavy lifting in getting us towards that target."
There are no Independent Premium comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts {{#replies}} for individual use only. Statistics released today by the Government show that renewables generated a record 36.9% of the UK’s electricity in 2019, more than half of which came from wind alone. The company’s combined order backlog—for wind turbines and service contracts—climbed to record highs of €35.1 billion at the end of June, as high demand for renewable energy continued. ‘Substantial increase’ in wind and solar power helped to generate 47% of Britain’s electricityThe government’s renewable energy data includes electricity from the UK’s windfarms, solar panels and hydro power plants The “substantial increase” in the UK’s total renewable energy output was chiefly driven by a growth in Offshore windfarms powered the largest increase in renewable energy in the first quarter of the year, climbing by 53% compared with the previous year, while onshore wind generation grew by a fifth.In total, wind power generated 30% of the UK’s electricity in the first quarter, beating the previous record of 22.3% set in the final months of 2019.Rebecca Williams, of Renewable UK, said the renewable energy industry’s records were bound to be broken again in the years ahead as the government worked on “a massive expansion of renewables as part of the UK’s green economic recovery”.Williams said the government’s record quarterly data showed the clean energy transition “written very large indeed” because the records had been set at the coldest time of year “when we need it most”.The rise of renewable energy combined with a steady supply of nuclear power, which made up about 15% of the UK generation mix, drove fossil fuel power plants to a new record low in the first quarter.Gas-fired power plants made up less than a third of UK generation in the first quarter compared with over 40% in the first months of 2019, and coal-fired power made up 3.8% of electricity generated in the UK.New rules will allow large energy storage projects to bypass national planning system€2bn, 475-mile Viking Link cable will share renewable energy between UK and DenmarkCompanies could save billions, says report, as well as curbing carbon emissionsCleve Hill, the £450m project producing 350MW, expected to receive go-ahead this week Independent Premium.