Q. What is the trend in overall energy usage in the UK?
Q. How much energy is being imported? How much of this is from the Middle East? |
Sources
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. Energy consumption in the UK. Published 26 July 2012. Updated 26 July 2018. http://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/energy-consumption-in-the-uk Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES). Published 28 March 2014. Updated 26 July 2018. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dukes-foreign-trade-statistics |
Energy Consumption
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The overall energy consumption in the UK has stayed roughly the same since 1970, with an overall decrease in recent years, after a peak around 2000.
The energy mostly comes from petroleum and gas, with the amount of solid fuels (e.g. coal) significantly dropping since the 1970's. 'Bioenergy & waste' has been increasing in recent years but still only represents a small percentage of the overall total. In terms of where the energy is being used, this graph shows the breakdown between 'transport', 'domestic', 'industry' and 'service'. |
Since 1970, 'transport' energy consumption has increased significantly (85% in 2017) whereas 'industry' energy consumption has decreased by almost 60%.
Also 'services' and 'domestic' energy consumption increased to a peak around 2000-2005 but has since been decreasing to approximately the same levels as 1970. |
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Comparing usage by type, petroleum is used by one in particular, whereas the other 4 are more evenly distributed between 'domestic', 'industry' and 'services'.
In 2017, 'transport' represented about 85% of the total petroleum usage. This could significantly change, if the increase in electric cars continues. |
In 2017, the UK consumed 192 million tonnes of oil equivalent which breaks down as -
Oil (petroleum), gas, or solid fuel (coal) = 39 + 36 + 5 = 80% Electricity = 12% Bio-energy & waste = 8% So even if 100% of the electricity consumed was made from renewable sources, this would still mean only 20% of the overall consumption would be 'renewable'. Approximately 80% of our energy is still dependent on fossil fuels. |