UK energy production down but low carbon input rises

The UK’s energy production fell by 14 per cent last year as a result of falls in gas and oil output from the continental shelf, fovernment figures show.

But the production of low carbon energy increased, with nuclear power output up by more than a tenth (11 per cent) and wind power from major producers rising 59 per cent.

Gas now supplies just over two-fifths (41 per cent) of electricity from major power producers in the UK, down from almost half (48 per cent) in the previous year, as other sources take a bigger share of energy production.

Estimates from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) suggest nuclear now accounts for 20 per cent of UK electricity generation, with wind up from 2.4 per cent to 4 per cent in a year, and hydro up from 0.8 per cent to 1.5 per cent.

Overall, low-carbon energy sources supplied a quarter of the UK’s electricity needs in 2011, up 5 per cent from the previous year.