The UK felt a dramatic increase in the imports and exports of gas from 2009 levels to 29.3% and 28.7%, respectively and total demand for gas rose by 8.3%.

Statistics released by the Department of Energy and Climate Change today showed that energy trends are changing, with renewables playing a bigger part in the energy mix.

Total energy production in 2010 was 157.2 million tonnes of oil equivalent, 5.8% lower than 2009.

The UK’s power sector saw a shift in electricity generation, with nuclear power dropping by 10.1% and generation from coal and natural gas-fired power plants rising by 3.9% and 5.6%, respectively.

Imports of coal in 2010 as a whole were 30.5% down on 2009 at 26.5 million tonnes and the total indigenous UK production of crude oil in 2010 was 7.7% lower than in 2009 at 63 million tonnes.

Offshore wind generation increased by 74.8% although total renewable electricity generation only rose by 0.4% in 2010.