Helen Blenkharn, Climate Change Policy Officer
I hear so much about onshore wind these days, are fossil fuels even a big deal in the UK any more?
Yes, they are! In fact, demand for fossil fuels in the UK could be on the verge of a resurgence!
For example:
Fuel Type
Extracted
Used
Proven Reserves[1]
Coal
Almost 18 million tonnes
51.5 million tonnes (1/3 from UK and 2/3 imported)
228 million tonnes
Crude Oil & Natural Gas Liquids
59,172 thousand tonnes
74.7 million tonnes, an increase of 1.5 million tonnes on the previous year
400 million tonnes
Gas
Equivalent to 526,699GWh
906,428GWh (approx 38% from UK production)
0.2 trillion cubic metres
‘Proven reserves’ have a reasonable certainty (normally at least 90% confidence) of being recoverable under existing economic and political conditions, and with existing technology. Oil companies also keep a list of ‘unproven reserves’ which may become recoverable under different economic circumstances or with technological advancements. This means the figures in the table underestimate what is left in the ground. Nor do they take into account the potential for unconventional gas extraction which is still relatively new to the UK, including coalbed methane, shale gas and synthetic gas. We’ll be exploring what this means for CO2 and for climate change, in future posts in this series.
In 2011, 30% of the UK’s electricity supply came from coal and 40% from gas. Renewables still only accounted for 9.4%, although this is growing year on year. Gas was also used extensively in homes for domestic heating and oil particularly for transport.
Weaning the UK off its fossil fuel addiction is going to be no small task. Do you think we’re up to the challenge?
[1] BP ‘Statistical Review of World Energy’ June 2012