Could This Be Britain’s Greenest Christmas Day Ever?

 


Could This Be Britain’s Greenest Christmas Day Ever? 

There are many ways to measure Christmas success. Some people count roast potatoes. Others count arguments. This year, Britain may be counting grams of carbon dioxide.

Britain’s electricity system could deliver its greenest Christmas Day on record, according to the National Energy System Operator (NESO).

If the weather stays mild and windy through the rest of December, NESO says carbon intensity on 25 December could be the lowest ever recorded for Christmas Day.

What does that actually mean?

Carbon intensity measures how much CO₂ is produced to generate each unit of electricity. Lower numbers mean:

  • More electricity from wind, solar, and nuclear

  • Less from gas and coal

  • A cleaner grid overall

Christmas Day is a perfect storm (the good kind):

  • Factories and offices are shut

  • Electricity demand is lower

  • Wind farms keep spinning whether anyone’s carving a turkey or not

In other words, the lights stay on… but the emissions stay low.

Why this matters

This isn’t just a festive curiosity. It’s a quiet sign of a system-level shift:

  • Renewables are now doing the heavy lifting

  • Low-carbon electricity is becoming the default, not the exception

  • We’re edging closer to a future where “green power” is just… power

No sackcloth. No sermons. Just fewer emissions while the kettle boils.

Sometimes the greenest thing you can do at Christmas
is absolutely nothing at all.

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