The UK has been making lots of steps to be a greener country in the last decade, and it seems that the efforts are paying off, as this summer was the greenest summer yet in the UK.

The National Grid recently revealed that the electricity that was used this summer to power homes and businesses was the greenest so far, indicating that many people are choosing to switch to more environmentally friendly sources of electricity.

A greener 2017

Sometimes it can feel like most of the news surrounding the environment is negative, but thankfully this news shows a positive step in the right direction for the UK. But why is the UK greener than ever?

One factor could be that the first subsidy-free huge solar project recently opened in the UK, and the government has already stated that this project should significantly affect the energy sector. National Grid also released data that shows that a combination of wind, solar and nuclear energy are being used while coal usage is decreasing. This means that carbon emissions are at their lowest level yet.

And the low level is definitely worth talking about; the carbon intensity of the grid has been more than halved over the last four years, showing a significant decrease in carbon emissions. In fact, over 50% of power used in summer 2017 came from low-carbon sources.

This shows that people are undergoing a shift in the way they view green energy (and energy in general). In the past, many people didn't want to switch to greener options as they worried it could be less reliable and more expensive, but today many people are quashing these myths and making the environment one of their main priorities.