UK energy efficiency improves

Overall UK energy efficiency, measured as energy consumption per unit of economic output, continues to improve year on year, according to provisional statistics for 2014 released by the

Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). Overall energy production fell between 2013 and 2014, and temperature-corrected consumption fell further.

The growth of renewables means that low carbon generation – including nuclear power – accounted for a record 36% of supply. Meanwhile, production of both coal and oil were at record low levels in 2014, says DECC.

Overall primary energy production fell by 2.0%, compared to 2013, to 112mn tonnes of oil equivalent. The decrease, the smallest for over 10 years, was due to falls in nuclear output (due to outages), coal production being down by 10% as a result of geological conditions at some mines in 2014, and oil production down 2.3% as a result of long-term decline and maintenance activity. However, gas production rose slightly, by 0.3%, due to the start-up of the Breagh and Jasmine fields.

Primary energy consumption on a fuel input basis decreased by 7.0% and, on a temperature adjusted basis, was down 3.1%, continuing the downward trend of the last nine years. The daily average temperature for 2014 was 1.2°C higher than 2013, with 2014 being the warmest year on record.

With GDP growth of 2.6% in 2014, the energy ratio – a measure of energy efficiency (energy consumption per unit of economic output) – is likely to have fallen by around 5.6% between 2013 and 2014; the ratio has fallen at an average rate of 3% per annum since 2000, says DECC.