UK, contribution to emissions

• -in the nineteenth century industrialisation in the UK was powered by coal

  -the UK remained dependent on coal as its main energy source for much of the 20th century 

  -reliance on coal together with an expanding economy meant that carbon emissions increased year on year 

  -however this trend has occasionally interrupted when GDP and economic activity fell e.g. because of the miners asterisk in 1921
• annual emission have fallen by one third and the reason are:

  -the shift away from coal as the primary fuel for electricity generation to cheaper natural gas 

  -the development of nuclear power stations and renewable sources on energy since the 1990s

  -improvements in energy conservation through more energy efficient homes, offices and factories 

  -international obligations and legally binding reductions in carbon emissions
• -in 2014 the uk carbon emission fell by a record 9 percent 

  -coal consumption was the lowest since the 1850s, with two major coal- fired power stations decommissioned and the largest, Drax in North Yorkshire, switching more of its capacity to biomass fuels

  -the uk government's drive to decarbonise the British economy is likely to lead to a further reductions in carbon emission in the future