Renewables Provide 50% of UK Electricity

Renewable sources of energy generated more electricity than coal and gas in the UK for the first time last week, Britain’s multinational electricity and gas utility company, National Grid plc, reported. The company said power from wind, solar, hydro and wood pellet burning supplied 50.7% of UK energy on June 7, BBC reported. Add in nuclear, and low carbon sources were producing 72.1% of electricity in the UK on the day. “For the first time ever this lunchtime wind, nuclear and solar were all generating more than both gas and coal combined,” National Grid said in a tweet. According to data, wind farms and solar panels across the UK generated 9.5 gigawatts and 7.6 gigawatts of power respectively. Environmentalists will salute this new record as a milestone towards the low carbon economy. Critics of renewable energy sources will point to the disruption renewables cause to the established energy system.