Total electricity consumption in the UK 2002-2020

Consumption of electricity in the United Kingdom has generally declined after hitting a peak of 357 terawatt hours in 2005 and dropping to 287.58 terawatt hours in 2020. This was the lowest electricity consumption during this period. Household electricity usage was greatest in East of England.

National Renewable Energy plan

Since 2009, alongside the EU Renewables directive, the UK agreed and created its own National Renewable Energy plan to increase renewable sources and decrease fossil fuels dependence. In 1970, 96.5 percent of UK’s energy consumption was attributable to fossil fuels. In 2019, this value had reached a low of 78.3 percent.

As part of the transition to renewables, greenhouse gas emissions have been decreasing in the United Kingdom. Once the major polluting sector, greenhouse gas emissions from the energy supply have seen a great decrease over the past decade, decreasing by nearly 50 percent. In 2019, the energy supply sector accounted for 96 million metric tons of greenhouse gases emitted. From 2016 onwards, the transport sector has begun to overtake the energy sector as the leading source of pollution within the country.