- The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by 3.6% in 2024
- Emissions fell to 371m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2024
- The report was based on preliminary government energy data
The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) fell by 3.6% in 2024 as coal use dropped to its lowest level since 1666, according to new analysis by Carbon Brief.
In its report, Carbon Brief said major contributions came from the closure of the UK’s last coal-fired power station in Nottinghamshire and one of its last blast furnaces at the Port Talbot steelworks in Wales.
Another contributing factor is a nearly 40% rise in the number of electric vehicles (EVs) being sold. The report also cited the UK’s electricity being the “cleanest ever” in 2024.
The report was based on preliminary government energy data, which showed emissions fell to 371m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2024, the lowest since 1872.
Other key findings included:
- The UK’s emissions are now 54% below 1990 levels, while GDP has grown by 84%.
- About half of the drop in emissions in 2024 was due to a 54% reduction in UK coal demand, which fell to 2m tonnes – the lowest level since 1666.
- Another third of the drop in 2024 emissions was due to falling demand for oil and gas, with the remainder down to ongoing reductions in non-CO2 GHG.
- Oil demand fell 1.4% despite increased road traffic, largely due to the rise in the number of EVs. The UK’s 1.4m EVs, 0.8m plug-in hybrids and 76,000 electric vans cut oil-related emissions by at least 5.9m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
- The UK’s EV motorists each saved around £800, on average, in 2024 – some £1.7bn in total – relative to the cost of driving petrol or diesel vehicles.
- Gas demand fell overall due to lower gas-fired electricity generation, thanks to higher electricity imports and increased output from low-carbon sources.
The report explained that the UK would need to further cut its emissions by a larger amount each year than it did in 2024 to reach its international climate goal for 2035, as well as its national target to reach net-zero by 2050.
Territorial gas emissions in the UK lowest since 1872
The UK’s territorial GHG emissions, those that occur within its borders, have now fallen in 26 of the 35 years.
Apart from brief rebounds after the global financial crisis and Covid-19, UK emissions have fallen every year for the past 20 years.
The latest 14m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent takes UK emissions down to 371m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
This is the lowest since 1872 and on par with 1926, when there was a general strike.
The UK’s emissions are now below the level reached only temporarily during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and now at levels not seen consistently since the Victorian era.
The collapse of coal
According to the report, the largest factor in emissions falling in 2024 accounted for around 7m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent and was a 54% drop in UK coal demand.
In percentage terms, this was the fastest annual reduction in UK coal demand on record, in figures going back to the 16th century.
The UK used 2.1m tonnes of coal in 2024, which is highlighted in the figure below:
The shift away from coal power towards low-carbon sources has been one of the driving forces of UK emissions cuts in recent years, the report said.
“In the period since the UK’s Climate Change Act was passed, the amount of coal used to generate electricity has dropped by 99%, from 48Mt to less than 1Mt in 2024,” the report said.
“This accounts for the large majority (84%) of the total reduction in coal use over the same period.”
The role of EVs
After coal, a lower demand for oil and gas was the next biggest contributor to the reduction.
The 1.4% drop in oil demand surprised the analysts, as traffic on UK roads has increased. In fact, the number of miles driven on UK roads increased by more than 1% in 2024 and is close to pre-Covid-19 levels.
Despite this, UK demand for road-transport fuels fell by another 1.6% in 2024 and is now nearly 14% lower than it was in 2019.
A key part of this phenomenon is two fold: Fuel efficiency improvements and EVs.
EVs on UK roads rose from 1 million in 2023 to 1.4 million in 2024, a 39% increase, with plug-in hybrids up 28% to 0.8 million. This is along with 76,000 electric vans.
These EVs cut oil-related emissions by at least 5.9m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2024, the analysis found.
EV drivers saved around £1.7bn in lower fuel costs in 2024 relative to petrol or diesel cars, the analysis determined, averaging roughly £800 per vehicle, per year.
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