According to Sadiq Khan (the Mayor of London), plans for the London Underground to be running on 100% renewable energy by the start of the next decade are progressing. He says that the capital city is getting closer to achieving the ambitious goal that forms a vital part of his plans to make London ‘net zero’ carbon in the next seven years.
2020 marked the first year in UK history that electricity came predominantly from renewable energy, with 43% of the country’s power coming from wind, solar, bioenergy and hydroelectric sources. Comparatively, The London Underground is well below the UK average when it comes to using renewable energy, with just a small amount of its power coming from renewable sources.
In February this year, Transport for London relaunched its Power Purchase Agreement tender; an agreement that aims for 10% of TfL’s energy to come from renewable sources. The contract for this tender is expected to be signed in early 2024 and is the first in a series of steps that TfL will be taking on its journey to becoming carbon-neutral by 2030.
According to Helena Bennett (head of climate policy at the think tank Green Alliance), transport is the highest contributor towards the country’s overall carbon emission, and although the large majority comes from road transport, every little helps when it comes to getting London (and the rest of the UK) to net-zero.
Sadiq Khan said: ‘This marks the first in a series of tranches where TfL will go out to procure new build renewables and is its first major step towards ensuring it meets our goal of being net zero by 2030.’