Storms in Great Britain allowed the country to set a record for clean energy generation. Strong winds on the morning of May 21 fed more than half of the United Kingdom with electricity, writes The Guardian.
Turbines of the country’s wind farms generated about 62.5 percent of all British electricity in a few hours. The previous record of 59.9 percent was in August 2020 after Hurricanes Ellen and Francis.
Wind gave Britons 18 percent of all electricity in May, a year earlier the figure was slightly higher at 20 percent. According to English electricity and gas company National Grid, 2020 was the cleanest year on record for the nation’s energy industry. Carbon dioxide emissions per unit of electricity generation reached a historic low.
Ember, an independent climate think tank, said that renewable electricity in the U.K. surpassed fossil fuel generation for the first time in 2020. The organization noted that the use of wind, sunlight, water and wood as alternative energy sources gave Britain 42 percent of its electricity, while gas and coal-fired power plants generated 41 percent of the total.
Replacing traditional energy sources with alternative plants has become a popular trend in recent years because of the increased fight against climate change. The strategy of switching to clean technologies is also dictated by the Paris Agreement on a zero carbon footprint. Nevertheless, experts at the Potsdam Institute of Climate Change believe that global warming is almost inevitable. Of the 400 climate scenarios analyzed by scientists, only 50 will avoid an increase in temperature above 1.5 degrees Celsius.
