Climate change: New record for green electricity gives UK a success story for Cop26 talks but we must do more – Scotsman comment

The news that Britain’s National Grid set a new record for green electricity on Easter Monday is a further sign that we are heading in the right direction – not just in the fight against climate change but also in terms of modernising our economy.

The grid’s operator said that, with no coal-fired power on the grid and just ten per cent coming from gas plants, the level of carbon dioxide used to create a kilowatt hour of electricity fell to its lowest ever level. Wind power provided 39 per cent, solar 21 per cent and nuclear 16 per cent.

Fintan Slye, director of National Grid ESO, said the national electricity supply was transforming at an “astonishing rate as we move away from fossil fuel generation and harness the growth of renewable power sources”, adding that they were taking “significant strides” towards being carbon free in just four years’ time.

That means the UK will have a success story to tell at the Cop26 United Nations’ climate talks in Glasgow in November.

However, as environmentalists pointed out, there is much work still to be done to cut carbon emissions from heating our homes, agriculture and transport.

If the UK and/or Scotland wish to really set the world to rights, they should be actively working to come up with innovative and practical suggestions about how to tackle these thornier obstacles on the road to a net-zero emissions to present to world leaders at Cop26.

We are still at the dawn of a new industrial revolution and, if we are bold, we can lead it.

Wind energy helped the UK's National Grid hit a new record low for carbon emissions on Easter Monday (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.