UK on track to achieve historic zero carbon milestone

The zero-carbon milestone, which marks the first time since the industrial revolution that renewable generation has overtaken fossil fuels, has been hailed as a tipping point in clean energy generation, made possible by a decade of investment in clean power sources.

In May – as reported by The Engineer - Britain clocked up its first coal free fortnight and generated record levels of solar power for two consecutive days, powering more than a quarter of the country’s daily electricity consumption.

John Pettigrew, CEO of National Grid, said that the latest figures show that the UK is making progress towards the government’s target of net zero emissions by 2050.  “The incredible progress that Britain has made in the past ten years means we can now say 2019 will be the year net zero power beats fossil fuel fired generation for the first time. Having reached this landmark tipping point, the question is what are we doing today to get to net zero as quickly as possible."