|
Gas and electricity may be provided by the same energy suppliers, but they definitely don't come from the same place. While electricity is a manufactured product that requires gas, coal and nuclear stations - or power stations - to be created, gas is a natural product that is brought onto the UK from offshore fields in the North Sea, and sometimes even futher afield. Electricity is produced in power stations and this is an industry that is currently booming in the UK. More nuclear power plants are due to arrive in the country by 2017, with four new plants in the pipeline following a 2008 government decision to support their creation. Much of electricity is actually provided via gas, however, and many homes use gas in various ways instead of electricity. This means that the natural gas industry is hugely important, and why there is so much work being done offshore. Unfortunately, our supply sources are running out in this field, meaning that Britain is becoming more reliant on gas from further afield. However, it is not only through electricity and gas that we receive energy. The UK currently produces a large amount of energy from renewable sources, and it is a government goal to have twenty per cent of the country’s energy coming from renewable sources by 2020. However the level of power from renewable sources is not sufficient to provide a stable source of supply for the UK, leading to the decision to invest in the new nuclear plants. Following the decision to build four new nuclear power plants, Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond announced that Scotland would not be involved in the new plants in any way, as the Scottish Parliament voted to block the building of any new nuclear power stations in the country. Although the UK Parliament could still overrule this objection, it is hoped that the vote will allow the Scottish Government solid backing to pursue its own energy needs in the future. Scotland now aims to have forty percent of the country’s energy coming from renewable sources by 2020. It is crucial that more and more companies and investors turn their attention to the places we get our energy from. It could be the case that renewable energy is far easier and cheaper to obtain: it is, after all, completely free and, unlike gas and oil supplies, never going to run out. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before your electricity supplier starts offering power from renewable sources!
Related Articles -
electricity supplier, UK energy, renewable energy,
| 
