Electricity being produced by firms in the UK in 2024 was the cleanest it has ever been, analysis has found.

A phasing out of coal, which has been cut by a half over the last decade has been a key factor.

Another has been a doubling of renewable generation over the same period.

During 2024 fossil fuels made up 29% of the UK’s electricity, the lowest on record and renewables reached a record high of 45%, according to the analysis by Carbon Brief.

It also found that 13% of electricity in the UK was from nuclear power.

“As a result, each unit of electricity generated in 2024 was associated with an average of just 124g of CO2, compared with a “carbon intensity” of 419gCO2 per kilowatt hour (kWh) in 2014,” found Carbon Brief.

Gas remains the single largest source of electricity in 2024, slightly ahead of wind.

But Carbon Brief believes wind is likely to overtake gas in electricity generation in 2025, as new wind power projects are completed and due to below average wind speeds last year.

“Wind has seen the largest increase of any power source in the UK over the past decade,” said Carbon Brief.

“Moreover, it is expected to form the backbone of the nation’s electricity system by 2030.

“The rise of wind power and the decline of fossil fuels means that the UK now gets nearly as much electricity from wind as from gas.”

Researchers point out that cleaner electricity makes electric vehicles (EV) even more beneficial to the environment.

While a decade ago an EV would have generated 830kg of CO2, by last year this had reduced to 245kg.

Carbon Brief added: “Put another way, an EV driven on 2014 electricity across its full lifetime would have had lifecycle CO2 emissions that were 50% lower than a petrol car.

“Now, the lifecycle saving is 70%.

“There have been similar benefits for CO2 emissions from household energy use, particularly those that use an electric heat pump.”

---