Energy Supply
(asked on 23rd April 2024) - View Source
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an estimate of the proportion of total energy demand will be met by (a) oil, (b) gas and (c) nuclear in (i) 2025, (ii) 2030, (iii) 2035, (iv) 2040, (v) 2045 and (vi) 2050.
Answered by
Andrew Bowie
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The table below sets out shares for oil, gas and nuclear consistent with a pathway to meeting the UK’s 6th Carbon Budget.
| 2022 | 2025 | 2030 | 2035 |
Gas (% of total energy) | 38% | 37% | 33% | 28% |
Oil (% of total energy) | 38% | 36% | 34% | 23% |
Electricity from nuclear (% of total energy) | 2% | 2% | 2% | 4% |
Electricity from nuclear (% of electricity) | 15% | 15% | 10% | 13% |
Beyond 2035, oil and gas use will need to continue to decline but will remain an important part of the energy mix and even when reaching net zero in 2050 oil and gas (combined) could still provide around a quarter of the UK's energy needs. The Government has set out an ambition for nuclear energy to provide up to around a quarter of the UK’s electricity needs by 2050 which would represent around 12% of expected total energy demand.