The start of the year had a significant impact in moving our goals for net zero forward – so much so, that we covered a piece looking at how global emissions were expected to fall during the pandemic.
That being said, there were also some concerns that many of the changes could be short lived, as life started to get back to normal.
However, reading between the lines, it would appear that this may be too harsh a statement and that in fact, many of these changes may have greater longevity. The *latest data released indicates that renewable sources contributed to 47% of the UK’s energy generation between January and March of this year, with the leading surge coming from wind power. Similar news also suggests the same to be true, running from March to June. Whilst there had been some hypotheses suggesting that energy use may be lower because of pandemic, a report also indicated demand had also fallen before any restrictions were put into place.
There has been increasing pressure to ensure this trend continues – as the UK starts to ease many lockdown measures, with businesses reopening and getting back on track, the expectation is that demand will start to increase once again. To offset this however, there has been plenty of movement in the renewable energy space, as a growing number of offshore wind farms set to power millions of homes come to the fore. Furthermore, there are growing possibilities in alternative forms of clean energy, such as hydrogen, which is also seeing a surge in popularity.
The next few months are likely to be crucial. Undoing all of the hard work in recent months is still a very distinct possibility if safe practices aren’t observed – growing on the existing plans is certainly a great first step for ensuring that net zero remains on track. Recent introductions of plans including the Green Homes Grant scheme will certainly play their part in helping here too.
You can discover our range of energy efficiency options to do your part in helping reach the net zero goal or get in contact with our experts to find out which solutions may work best for you.
