Carbon Emissions

(asked on 15th June 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of a whole energy systems approach to reaching the UK’s decarbonisation targets.


Answered by
Kwasi Kwarteng Portrait
Kwasi Kwarteng
This question was answered on 23rd June 2020

The Government is committed to delivering clean growth and reaching our net zero target.

We are already making good progress in decarbonising the power sector. More than half of our electricity (54%) was generated from low-carbon sources in 2019 and renewables’ share of generation now stands at a record 37%. Meanwhile, the use of coal in our electricity mix has dropped from 39% in 2012 to just 2% in 2019. Recently we celebrated a two-month milestone of coal-free power generation.

We must continue to embrace the opportunities offered by technology to accelerate the transition to a cleaner future including innovations in energy storage technologies, smart and no-waste electricity grids, zero-emission vehicles, and eco-friendly buildings.

That is why, at the Spring Budget, we announced an ambitious support package worth over £2bn for our low carbon economy, including £270m new exchequer funding for heat networks, £100m for heat pumps and biomass and a commitment to at least double the size of the Energy Innovation Programme.

The Government recognises the need to fully consider the complex interactions between different sectors of the economy, as it progresses on its ambitious programme of decarbonisation, and the potential benefits that systems-based thinking can bring to this.

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