Britain: Wind Energy Generation Beats Gas

Wind Energy Generation Beats Gas

Renewable energy appears to be gaining momentum in the UK as new figures showed wind generation rose 33% last year whilst gas production fell.
According to DECC’s new ‘UK Energy Statistics’ for 2012, low carbon generation accounted for 29.6% of supply, up from 26.7% in 2011. The share of wind generation grew from 4% in 2011 to 5.5% last year and bioenergy went up by 46%. Nuclear energy also saw a 2.1% rise but hydropower saw a 9% drop.
However, gas production in the UK fell by 14.1% in 2012, which DECC said was due to both planned and unplanned “maintenance activity”. Gas demand is also believed to have been at its lowest level since 1995 due to a decrease in demand from generators. Crude oil production also fell by 14.3%, however, the UK remained a net exporter of petroleum products, with exports of 1.6 million tonnes.
But the UK saw a dramatic increase in the amount of electricity generated using coal as it accounted for 42.8% of energy last year compared to 30% in 2011.
Read the full article here http://www.energylivenews.com/2013/02/28/wind-energy-generation-beats-gas/