If you have ever been out at the Metal Meter Box installed by https://www.meterbox.co.uk on the side of your house, taking the meter readings to submit to your energy supplier, you might find yourself wondering where all of our electricity actually comes from.
We essentially have four main ways in which we generate and supply electricity to homes and businesses here in the UK. The type of electrical generation will depend on who you get your electricity from and where in the country you are based.
- Fossil Fuels – we are all aware that fossil fuels will eventually run out and the government is putting in place plans to move us away from this source of energy. Most of the electricity we use is produced by burning gas, with some smaller amounts coming from burning coal (although this is dramatically decreasing every year).
- Nuclear energy – uranium atoms are split in two and during this process they create heat. About a quarter of our electrical energy is produced this way but many f the nuclear power stations will start to close down in the next 10 years and uranium becomes harder to source and use.
- Renewable energy – this is where the future of our energy is. Solar power, wind power, tidal and many, many more renewable sources are being used to help us find ways to produce the energy that we need but without damaging the planet in the process.
- Importation – some of our electricity is imported from places like France through a vast electric cable network.