UK carbon trading goes solo for now
Apr 15, 2021 11:40:am
Summary The UK and the EU emissions trading schemes split at the start of the year. But there is some pressure to reunite them.
by: William Powell
The ending of the 11-month transition period following the UK’s formal withdrawal from the European Union early last year means it now must decide how to manage its emissions trading. A high price is necessary to pay for carbon mitigation schemes such as carbon capture and storage but the market itself needs to be orderly to ensure trade.
Since January 1 there have been an EU ETS and a UK ETS but while notionally separated, including the currency the certificates trade in, the two for now have the same terms and conditions.
The remaining 17 per cent was produced by nuclear sources, the report said.
Wind power was the main source of renewable generation, contributing 24 per cent of all energy produced last year.
That’s double the amount of power produced by wind in 2015, and a 4.0 per cent jump year-on-year.
Coal power, which is due to be phased out for good in 2024, fell to just 2.0 per cent of the UK’s energy mix.
Gas remains the UK’s single largest power source, providing 37 per cent of all electricity in 2020.
However, due to a year of lower energy demand due to coronavirus, it ceded about 4.5 per cent of its share in the total production matrix to wind.