Wind power supplied the UK with more power than gas for the first time this year

There is a ‘renewable energy revolution’ happening and it’s working in the UK. At times, wind energy supplied the country with more electricity than gas.

The energy procurement milestone occurred in the first three months of 2023, according to a new report released on Wednesday. According to the report published by Drax Electric Insights and conducted by researchers at Imperial College London, 32.4% of UK electricity came from the UK wind power During this time. Turbines generated 24 terawatt hours (Twh) of electricity, an amount that could charge more than 300 million Tesla Model Ys, researchers said, and an amount that was 3% more than the output generated at the same time last year.

Gas, on the other hand, generated 31.7% of the country’s energy, down 5% year-on-year.

“It is the first time in the history of the country’s power grid that wind supplies the largest share of electricity in a quarter,” said a press release accompanying the report.

And that was just part of renewable energy’s continued takeover of fossil fuels at #1 in the industry Britain’s Electricity Procurement, which the US Energy Information Administration says happened for the first time in 2020. That year, the country generated 46% of its electricity from renewable energy, which includes solar, biomass and hydropower, and 38% from fossil fuels. This year, their share was 42% and 33%, respectively.

Iain Staffell, a scholar and researcher at Imperial College who led the report, said this change was due to the “Renewable energy revolution.”

“In a decade, the UK has done almost everything cut out coalafter over a century of relying on the most polluting fossil fuel to power our country,” he said. “There are still many hurdles on the way to a completely fossil-free grid, but phasing out wind energy for the first time is a real challenge.” This is a milestone and shows what can be achieved when governments set the right environment for Create investors in clean technologies.”

Coal production has also declined significantly, falling by more than 90% from 2010 to 2020, according to the EIA. And according to the Drax report, it’s the smallest power source overall, as there’s only a single coal-fired power plant left and many previous power plants that burned fossil fuels are now focused on renewable energy.

The latest report is just part of a global push for renewable energy that experts are warning could be the planet exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius warming compared to pre-industrial times in the next few years. Climate scientists and the United Nations have repeatedly warned that this threshold would increase the risk of extreme weather, sea level rise, temperature, drought and other weather and climate events.

The burning of fossil fuels like gas and coal is a major contributor to global warming as the process releases carbon dioxide and other gases that trap heat on the planet. However, this is not the case with renewable energies.

Last month, nonprofit environmental think tank Ember released a report that found wind and solar power grew 19% globally in 2022, a surge that, if sustained, could “soon transform the world into a new one.” era of declining fossil fuel generation” could be like this year. In comparison, coal production rose just 1.1% this year, while gas production fell 0.2%.

This data was compiled based on electricity data from 78 countries, which generate 93% of the world’s electricity needs, the report said.

“Clean energy growth is expected to outpace electricity demand growth in 2023,” the report said. “This would be the first year this would happen outside of a recession… A new era of declining emissions in the energy sector is upon us.”