This is the total amount of electricity being generated now.
Because electricity cannot easily be stored the amount of electricity being used in the UK
has to exactly match the amount of electricity being generated.
This is the amount of CO2 that all the power stations producing electricity for
the national grid are producing at the moment. Coal power stations are by far the
'dirtiest' and more CO2 per unit of electricity than any other generation type.
Burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) produces CO
2 (Carbon Dioxide).
The quantity of fossil fuels used needs to be reduced for many reasons:
- The CO2 produced contributes towards climate change; significantly disrupting life for future generations on our planet.
- Many other pollutants apart from CO2 are produced, especially from coal.
- Fossil fuels are non-renewable - they will run out.
- As fossil fuelds become scarcer, the techniques used for producing them become more 'dirty'. More pollution is caused by mining the fossil fuel before the fuel is even used.
How are CO2 emissions calculated?
This is the amount of CO2 that is being generated right now for every kWh (or unit)
of electricity that you use. For example, running a dishwasher once uses roughly 1kWh
of electricity, so will create this much CO2 if you run it now.
Burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) produces CO
2 (Carbon Dioxide).
The quantity of fossil fuels used needs to be reduced for many reasons:
- The CO2 produced contributes towards climate change; significantly disrupting life for future generations on our planet.
- Many other pollutants apart from CO2 are produced, especially from coal.
- Fossil fuels are non-renewable - they will run out.
- As fossil fuelds become scarcer, the techniques used for producing them become more 'dirty'. More pollution is caused by mining the fossil fuel before the fuel is even used.
How are CO2 emissions calculated?
This is the amount of natural gas being imported into the UK at this moment.
Imported gas is either stored or used immediately. Storage allows sudden changes in
gas usage (for example, rising gas usage in the evening when people cook dinner) to be
handled without requiring gas imports to suddenly change.
Gas is imported at terminals around the coast of the UK from pipelines and ships.
This is the amount of CO2 that is generated from burning the natural gas
that is being imported.
Because gas can be stored, this isn't exactly the CO2 being generated right
now; it is the CO2 that would be generated if all imports were burned
immediately. However, over a few days this will average out to be the correct value.
How are CO2 emissions calculated?
Real-time UK energy statistics
Updates every 5 minutes
Data provided by Elexon under licence. Indicative only; no warranty given, no liability accepted.
To further exploit this data contact Elexon.
Natural gas (primarily methane) is imported into the UK at gas terminals around the coast.
The real-time data of the amount of gas flowing into the UK is shown below.
Gas can be stored in the UK, so the amount currently being imported does not necessarily
equal the amount currently being used. However, on average over a few days, the amount being
imported will be the same as the amount being used, as all imported gas is used within the UK.