Great Britain’s electricity system recorded its greenest ever day on bank holiday Monday as sunshine and windy weather led to a surge in renewable energy. At its peak on Monday 5th April 2021, zero-carbon sources made up 80 per cent of the UK’s energy mix. Whilst a large proportion of the population sat down to enjoy their Easter lunch, wind turbines and solar farms generated 60% of all electricity, whilst the UK’s nuclear reactors provided an additional 16%, meaning that almost 80% of the grid was powered by low-carbon sources. This effective combination of green energy sources meant that power plants in England, Scotland and Wales produced only 39g of carbon dioxide for every kilowatt-hour of electricity consumed, which according to the National Grid’s Electricity System Operator (ESO), is the lowest carbon intensity recorded since National Grid records began in 1935!
This impressive result was achieved due to a combination of factors. Take the ingredients of sunny, windy weather conditions on a bank holiday, when factories and large industries are not working – coupled with a national lockdown, and you are sure to cook up some impressive figures!
To put this into context, the very next day, 24.8% of Britain’s energy came from fossil fuels, most of which was gas (combined cycle), whilst 45.2% was a renewable energy source. The real test for renewables comes however, when we are faced with a cold, still, overcast winter’s day, when the demand for heating and lighting soars, and the ability to produce wind-power is non-existent. But as investments in renewables increases, breaking records for green energy production is surely something we will become increasingly more accustomed to.
The way in which the UK harnesses power has changed over recent years, It is now a fairly regular occurrence for more than half of the grid’s electricity to be supplied by wind, while last year the country went 55 days without relying on coal for power in the summer of 2020.
Becoming Carbon-free by 2025
National Grid ESO director, Fintan Slye stated: “This latest record is another example of how the grid continues to transform at an astonishing rate as we move away from fossil fuel generation and harness the growth of renewable power sources. It’s an exciting time, and the progress we’re seeing with these records underlines the significant strides we’re taking towards our ambition of being able to operate the system carbon-free by 2025.”
Over 2020 as a whole, carbon intensity fell to 181g of CO²/kWh, which was in part caused by the collapse in demand for electricity during the Coronavirus lockdowns. To stay on track with the UK’s climate targets the electricity industry will need to cut its carbon intensity to 50g of CO²/kWh by 2030, so there is still a long way to go and each and every person needs to play their part in this global challenge.
How is Zioxi helping to reduce Carbon Emissions ?
Here at zioxi we are committed to helping you use less energy in schools, universities and businesses. Therefore, we have developed our onView technology which has an automatic ‘Green Charge’ function that communicates with the National Grid and forecasts when the greenest times to consume energy will be over the coming 48 hours. When you are charging your laptops in your charging trolley, or rechargeable powerHubs or your ipads in their charging cart you can be sure that you are only consuming energy at the times of day and night when the power generation from renewable sources is at its peak. Our onView technology can also be implemented in desks, tables, lecterns and other power consuming items of furniture so power can be automatically turned off when not in use.
The Zioxi powerHubs Towers and powerHub Surface and Cube use our onView patented technology to store Green Energy in batteries for distribution anytime and anywhere it is needed. We are committed to a greener future for all.