Enough is Enough
Stuffed!
Posted on 23 Dec 24
by Mark HodgsonIn Uncategorized
On 19th December 2024, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero produced a paper with the title “Electricity generation and supply in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and England, 2019 to 2023”. It explains that the “UK data in this article is taken from chapters 5 and 6 of the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics (DUKES) 2024”. (The more detailed DUKES statistical release of 30th July 2024 can be found here. The December 2024 paper is a relatively short document and contains some interesting statistics. I’ve highlighted a few below.
Key headlines
The opening key headlines are significant. The first one is to the effect that:
UK total electricity generation in 2023 was 293 TWh, a decrease of 9.9 per cent compared to 2022. This is the lowest electricity generation on the published data series.
That UK electricity generation is in decline won’t surprise many people, though the scale of the decline might do (it surprised me). It’s disappointing that the document doesn’t probe the reasons for this and the implications. No doubt there are several reasons – increasing efficiency of electrical goods; the decline of manufacturing, as the UK exports its manufacturing capacity, wealth, jobs and greenhouse gas emissions abroad; increasing reliance on interconnectors. Where this leaves us as we are expected to electrify our heating, cooking, transport is another matter. Demand for electricity is bound to increase, but UK electricity generation is declining rapidly.
The more detailed DUKES paper provides rather more information:
Overall energy demand dropped to levels last seen in the 1950s due to sustained high temperatures and high energy and other prices. Industrial and household use of energy dropped on last year to the lowest levels in over 50 years. Transport demand grew by 4 per cent driven by growth in aviation fuel sales…
https://cliscep.com/2024/12/23/enough-is-enough/
