Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, the UK's last remaining coal fired power station, closed in September 20241. The Climate Change Committee (CCC), the statutory adviser on emissions, records that "Emissions from coal fell to zero due to the closure of Ratcliffe-on-Soar (which was the UK's last remaining coal fired power station) in September 2024"1. Carbon Brief describes the closure as ending "a 142-year era of burning the fuel for electricity" and making the UK "the first country in the G7 to completely phase out coal power"3.
The closure contributed to the cleanest year on record for UK electricity. Carbon Brief's analysis puts the carbon intensity of UK electricity at 124gCO2/kWh in 2024, against 419gCO2/kWh in 2014, a fall of 70%3. Fossil fuels made up 29% of UK electricity in 2024, the lowest level on record, while renewables reached a record 45% and nuclear 13%3. Gas fired stations remained the single largest source at 88TWh (28%), just ahead of wind at 84TWh (26%)3. Emissions associated with UK electricity supplies fell from 150MtCO2 in 2014 to below 40MtCO2 in 2024, down 74%3.
The CCC's 2026 progress report to Parliament, laid before Parliament on 24 June 2026, records that electricity supply showed the largest sectoral emissions reduction, "accounting for a decrease of 7.4 MtCO2e (19.6%)", "driven primarily by a 14.4 TWh reduction in gas generation year-on-year"1. Final UK emissions for 2024 were 415 MtCO2e including international aviation and shipping (IAS), 49% below 1990 levels, a change of 7.7 MtCO2e (-1.8%) from 20231. Provisional emissions for 2025 were 407 MtCO2e including IAS, 50% lower than 19901.
| Year | Emissions including IAS (MtCO2e) | Excluding IAS (MtCO2e) |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 815 | 793 |
| 2023 | 422 | 384 |
| 2024 | 415 | 373 |
Source: Climate Change Committee1
Ember's October 2024 analysis found that energy wasted in generating power had fallen by 21% since 2000, with the share of wasted input energy down from 60% in 2000 to 47% in 2023, because wind and solar waste much less input energy than coal and gas5. It also found that 1.5 million electric vehicles and 430,000 residential heat pumps reduced oil and gas consumption by 14 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2023, comparable to 3.4% of the UK's annual net oil and gas imports5.
"Emissions from coal fell to zero due to the closure of Ratcliffe-on-Soar (which was the UK's last remaining coal fired power station) in September 2024."
Why it matters for households
Coal no longer sets the carbon content of a unit of household electricity, but gas still does. Carbon Brief reports that gas fired stations were the largest single source of UK electricity in 20243, and Onward states that gas sets the marginal wholesale electricity price 97% of the time4. The CCC's 2026 report says 93% of UK emissions are now outside the electricity supply sector, and that around three-quarters of a typical household's driving and home energy bills come from the direct use of fossil fuels in cars and gas boilers1.
The CCC estimates that, following recent fossil fuel price increases, bills have risen almost four times more for a typical household with a gas boiler and a petrol car than for one with a heat pump and an EV, and ten times more for a rural household with an oil boiler and a diesel car1. It puts the potential saving for a typical household with a gas boiler and petrol car at around £1,210 a year from installing solar panels, switching to a time-of-use tariff, a heat pump and an EV, and around £1,880 a year for a rural household with an oil boiler and a diesel car, even without solar or time-of-use tariffs1. It adds that not all homes are suitable for solar panels or time-of-use tariffs, and that many would not currently save from switching to a heat pump alone1.
Onward, a centre-right think tank, argues that taxes, levies and subsidy costs passed through to billpayers add 30%, or £285, to a typical household bill, and that carbon taxes and VAT on gas generators add around 40% to the wholesale cost of gas and 15% to the average family's bill4. Its figures and framing differ from the CCC's, which treats removing remaining policy costs from electricity bills as a route to lower household bills1.
For a home's energy independence, the shift matters in two ways. The carbon intensity of the electricity a household draws has fallen sharply3, so an electrified home or car carries far lower emissions than in 2014: Carbon Brief puts the lifecycle CO2 saving of an EV over a petrol car at 70%, up from 50% in 2014, and the heat-related CO2 saving of a heat pump over a gas boiler at 84% a year, against 45% in 20143. But the UK remains exposed to gas prices, and the CCC states that the slow pace of electrification is "a missed opportunity to enhance UK energy security in the face of rising threats, leaving the UK exposed to geopolitical shocks"1.
What happens next
The CCC's 2026 report was laid before Parliament on 24 June 20261. It records that in October 2025 the Government published its Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan, setting out policies and plans for meeting carbon budgets1. The CCC's Seventh Carbon Budget advice, published 26 February 2025, recommended a limit of 535 MtCO2e over 2038 to 2042 including international aviation and shipping, and stated that the Government must propose a level to Parliament, and Parliament approve or reject it, by 30 June 20262. The CCC's 2026 report also records that in March 2026 the Government announced regulations to implement the Future Homes Standard and Future Buildings Standard, and a new three pence per mile tax on EVs effective from April 20281.
Sources5 cited
- Progress in reducing emissions 2026 report to Parliament - Climate Change Committee, theccc.org.uk
- The Seventh Carbon Budget - Climate Change Committee, theccc.org.uk
- Analysis: UK’s electricity was cleanest ever in 2024 - Carbon Brief, carbonbrief.org
- Cooking on Gas | Onward, ukonward.com
- The UK can enhance energy security through clean electrification | Ember, ember-energy.org