Renewable energy in the UK

A look at renewable energy consumption in the UK, one of the targets for the Sustainable

Development Goals

Renewable energy sources are...

Forms of energy that won’t run out if we use them

While overall energy consumption has gone downsince 1990, the proportion of energy from renewable

sources has risen substantially

Source: UK environmental accounts: 2017

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'15'14'13'12'11'10'09'08'07'06'05'04'03'02'01'00'99'98'97'96'95'94'93'92'91'90

Renewable energy directive target is 15% by 2020

Renewable sources and waste

% fromrenewables

year

Most of the renewable energy we consume comesfrom wood, wind/wave/tidal, and burning rubbish

Source: UK environmental accounts: 2017

Landfill gas 9%

Municipal solid waste(rubbish) 12% Wood 35%

Wind, wave, tidal 20%

Other 24%

(Solar photovoltaic, Biogas, Biodiesel, Hydroelectric power, Biomass, Bioethanol, Straw, Sewage gas, Poultry litter, Charcoal,

Liquid bio-fuels, Geothermal aquifers)

2015

But not all renewables areemission-free...

Producing energy from wood creates harmful pollutants like particulate matter

(PM2.5 and PM10)

PM10 is a tenth of the width of a human hair. PM2.5 is even smaller! So small, it can enter into

the lungs and bloodstream

These particles are carcinogenic and cancause premature death

In 2015 nearly a third of PM2.5 emissions in the UKwere from burning wood

Source: Particulate Matter Emissions 2015

PM10

25%from wood

75%from other

sources

PM2.5

32%from wood

68%from other

sources

Moving forward...

There is a strong drive to tackle the growing problem of emissions in the UK

What is the UK doing?

1. Reducing local air pollution

There have been calls for a ban on wood-burning stoves, to help lower pollution levels and tackle air

quality in London

This is a small contributor to the UK as a whole,but significant for local air pollution

2. Creating a Clean Air Strategy

This will be published in 2018

It will set out plans to meet international commitments in reducing emissions of air

pollutants by 2020 and 2030

3. Growing sustainably

The Clean Growth Strategy sets out a plan for growing the UK economy while cutting

greenhouse gas emissions

About Sustainable Development Goals

The UK committed to the Sustainable Development Goals in 2016, along with 192 other

UN member states

These countries all committed to work towards ending hunger and poverty, halting climate change

and reducing inequalities

What is the UK doing to meetthese goals?

The UK’s first publication around Sustainable Development Goals was released

in November 2017

We’re publishing a series of outputs that look at some of the major goals, and how the UK is

performing in meeting them

Keep in touch

Have a look at our Sustainable Development Goal reporting tool:https://sustainabledevelopment-uk.github.io

For more information, visit our website

www.ons.gov.uk

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