With concerns that energy supplies are running low in the UK, and with several reports warning of “black out Britain” ministers are urging power companies to look at more sustainable ways of keeping the country in energy.
There were several warnings that Britain could experience blackout during the winter season due to the high demands on energy, but thus far this has not been the case and it seems many of us are heeding the calls to find sustainable means of power generation.
December 2013 is being hailed as a record breaking month for wind energy. For years the government has warned of the need to find more sustainable means of power generation and the statistics show that wind power is leading the way when it comes to green energy.
In December, 2,841,080 megawatt hours of electricity were generated through the National Grid by wind power. This generated enough electricity to provide enough power for nearly 6 million UK homes; wind power supplied 10% of electricity for homes, businesses and factories in the UK.
Statistics also show that there were more record-breaking figures for wind energy last month. In the week starting 16th December, wind power was used to generate 783,886 MWh hours of electricity, accounting for 13% of the Britain’s power supply over the course of the week.
The boom in power generated by wind energy also reached record levels in the run up to Christmas. On the 21st December, which is traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the year, 132,812 MWh was generated through wind power alone. This is a record figure and supplied 17% of the countries demand for electricity.
Commenting in a press release, Maf Smith, Deputy Chief Executive of RenewableUK, said:
“This is a towering achievement for the British wind energy industry. It provides cast-iron proof that the direction of travel away from dirty fossil fuels to clean renewable sources is unstoppable.
“In December, we generated more electricity from wind for British homes and businesses than during any other month on record – and we also hit weekly and daily highs.
“This gives us a great sense of confidence for the year ahead, when we will continue to increase the amount of clean power we generate from wind, onshore and offshore.
Another area of power generation the government is keen to explore is nuclear energy, however, green groups such as Friends of the Earth have argued that the country already has enough nuclear reactors and has warned of the hidden costs of using nuclear energy for power generation.
There are also many against the idea of the use of wind energy as a form of power generation. One such group, Together Against Wind, say that wind power is too expensive and the group has vowed to campaign for cuts to the amount of subsidies the wind energy sector is given.
However, despite the objections to this form of power, in the run up to the festive period it seems that green energy led the way in December.