Fourth Update of July 2019 – An overview of last week’s Energy news

Below is this week’s summary. It should be a one minute read relevant to UK energy with links to documents for those who wish to read more.

(Click a bullet point to open the relevant article)

Monday – 22nd July

• UK Government Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has opened a consultation on energy efficiency in the electricity system.

Tuesday – 23rd July

• Following the loss of investment to 2 new nuclear power stations, UK Government has outlined plans to deliver funds up-front from the public purse to encourage investment rather than through subsidies during production phase.

Wednesday – 24th July

• UK Government Office for National Statistics report shows that UK emissions are 65% higher than official figures once ‘offshore’ emissions are counted including international travel and manufacture of imported goods.

• 30 of 500 homes in a new housing development in Aberdeen will be powered by hydrogen fuel cells as a pilot scheme.

Thursday – 25th July

• The UK Government report of energy which has been published annually since 1950, has been published for 2018. Highlights include energy from oil, gas and coal at a record low of 80% of UK energy supply, mostly due to drop in use of coal for generation of electricity and that renewable sources and nuclear power contributed to more than half of electricity generation for the first time. Wind contributed a record 17% of electricity generation during the year.

Friday – 26th July

• Article shows changes in coal use for power generation across Europe for the first half of 2019. EU is split between west (big drop) and east (small drop) with an average of 19%. France and Republic of Ireland have both reduced coal-powered electricity generation by over 75% or more (article has a good graphic covering entire EU).

• New UK Prime Minister has expressed ‘passionate’ support for nuclear power in the future UK energy mix.

• Here’s a good one: headline and first sentence say 1/3 of UK energy was provided by renewable resources in 2018. The third sentence says fossil fuels contributed more than 79% of UK energy. What do they teach them?