Imported Energy
National estimates of energy consumption are based on the use of energy within the UK. Goods from foodstuffs to plastic goods that are imported carry embodied energy that is not included in the UK calculations and carries energy produced in other countries. Various estimates have been made to assess the energy consumption of imported goods we use1.
The total estimate based on the more
conservative DEFRA study is around 60 kWh/day
per capita nationally2
Locally this translates to about
(365 x 60kWh x 23,863) 522,600 MWh/y energy
from imports and adds about 6.5 tonnes of carbon
from emissions per person in the UK
Adding this total to our other current energy use
(estimated above):
709.5 GWh/y
Almost doubles our 2009 total energy use
in T&D to
1,232.1 GWh/y
This highlights our current dependence on imports and pinpoints a key challenge to becoming nationally and locally resilient.
Footnotes
- See Riverford’s assessment of its carbon footprint www.riverfordenvironment.co.uk/Rivercarbfoot.aspx [↩]
- Sustainable Energy – without the hot air p.322 [↩]
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