In 2019, the UK government became the first major economy to pass a net zero emissions law. And with it, a target that will require the UK to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.
Net zero means that any carbon emissions created are balanced (kind of cancelled out) by taking the same amount out of the atmosphere. So we’ll reach net zero when the amount of carbon emissions we add is no more than the amount taken away.
There are many ways to remove carbon from the atmosphere – for example, you can plant trees which absorb CO2 and release oxygen.
However, as well as trying to take CO2 out of the atmosphere, it’s important to reduce the amount of CO2 that we are putting into the atmosphere in the first place.
When carbon (CO2 or carbon dioxide) and other heat-trapping emissions are released into the air, they act like a blanket, holding heat in our atmosphere and warming the planet.
Traditional energy sources like coal and gas produce carbon dioxide among other gasses when they are burned to fuel power stations.
Zero carbon means that no carbon emissions are being produced from a product or service (for example, a wind farm generating electricity, or a battery deploying electricity).
Energy sources like wind, nuclear and solar do not create carbon emissions when they are used to produce electricity – we refer to these sources as zero-carbon.
This means if the market provides electricity generated from zero-carbon sources, National Grid can run the system without needing to use any extra services that emit carbon.
So Britain’s electricity will be carbon free.