Economic Report 2000 Index

Next Section

Meeting the Challenge Environment Member companies of UKOOA aim to build a UK oil and gas industry that will be environmentally sustainable and competitive through the 21st century and that works for the benefit of all society. UKOOA's third Environment Report has indicated that, despite record production, offshore atmospheric emissions, oil spills and oil in produced water all declined in 1999. The growth in UKCS gas supply has transformed the fuel mix used in electricity generation. In 1990 gas represented less than 1% of the fuel inputs compared with over 34% in 1999. Over the same period coal input has declined from 65% to 33%. Data for 1999 confirm that gas has now overtaken coal as the largest source of fuel used in UK electricity generation. The switch away from coal, and to a lesser extent oil to gas, has engendered a significant reduction in CO2 emissions from power stations. These emissions have declined by 28% since 1990 despite a 16% increase in the amount of electricity generated. This improvement is equivalent to a 41% reduction per unit of electricity generated. Of this 41% saving, 16% is due to increased use of gas, 7% from increased use of nuclear and the balance from the increased efficiency of new plant. A large proportion of the latter is attributable to the introduction of Combined Cycle Gas Turbine plant. Figure 27a - UKCS potential gas supply Figure 27b - UKCS potential gas supply forecast comparison Figure 28 - UK electricity generation - gas the fuel of choice Figure 29 - Switch from coal to gas improves environmental efficiency