These records are across the clean electricity sector. Highlights of 2017 included the greenest summer ever, as well the first full day since the Industrial Revolution where there was no coal power, record

breaking level of green power and the plummeting costs of off-shore wind.

National Grid, who are working with WWF on forecasting the carbon intensity of electricity have verified these records.

Gareth Redmond-King our Head of Energy and Climate Change, said:

“2017 has been an amazing year for renewable electricity in Britain; we have never been cleaner or greener – and we are on course for an even better year in 2018. Climate change is wreaking havoc on our nature and wildlife, but we are at last facing up to the challenge, turning our backs on polluting fossil fuels and embracing a new clean future. But we need to show more ambition by bringing forward the ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars to 2030.”

Since 2012, Britain has halved carbon emissions in the electricity sector making the power system the 4th cleanest in Europe and the 7th cleanest in the world. Meanwhile public support for renewable electricity production has hit record highs, with 82% of the UK public supporting green energy.

However, a lot more needs to be done to reduce our carbon emissions and tackle climate change. The UK is behind schedule to meet the 4th or 5th Carbon Budgets and there are no clear plans on how we are going to make up this shortfall.

2018 is the year of opportunity for clean energy, and is set to be even greener, but it must be backed up with Government action. Greater support needs to be given to renewable energy, to decarbonise our heat and make our buildings use less energy. On top of this greater ambition is needed to support electric vehicles by ending the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2030. This will cut our carbon emissions, clean up our air and bolster the UK economy.