Transport. Heathrow Terminal 5 building. London Heathrow Airport has the most international passenger traffic of any airport in the world.[247][248]

Heathrow Terminal 5 building. London Heathrow Airport has the most international passenger traffic of any airport in the world.^[247][248]

A radial road network totals 29,145 miles (46,904 km) of main roads, 2,173 miles (3,497 km) of motorways and 213,750 miles (344,000 km) of paved roads.^[101] In 2009 there were a total of 34 million licensed vehicles in Great Britain.^[249]

The UK has a railway network of 10,072 miles (16,209 km) in Great Britain and 189 miles (304 km) in Northern Ireland. Railways in Northern Ireland are operated by NI Railways, a subsidiary of state-owned Translink. In Great Britain, the British Rail network was privatised between 1994 and 1997. Network Rail owns and manages most of the fixed assets (tracks, signals etc.). About 20 privately owned Train Operating Companies (including state owned East Coast), operate passenger trains and carry over 18,000 passenger trains daily. There are also some 1,000 freight trains in daily operation.^[101] The UK government is to spend £30 billion on a new high-speed railway line, HS2, to be operational by 2025.^[250] Crossrail, under construction in London, Is Europe's largest construction project with a £15 billion projected cost.^[251][252]

In the year from October 2009 to September 2010 UK airports handled a total of 211.4 million passengers.^[253] In that period the three largest airports were London Heathrow Airport (65.6 million passengers), Gatwick Airport (31.5 million passengers) and London Stansted Airport (18.9 million passengers).^[253] London Heathrow Airport, located 15 miles (24 km) west of the capital, has the most international passenger traffic of any airport in the world^[247][248] and is the hub for the UK flag carrier British Airways, as well as for BMI and Virgin Atlantic.^[254]

Energy

Main article: Energy in the United Kingdom

An oil platform in the North Sea

In 2006, the UK was the world's ninth-largest consumer of energy and the 15th largest producer.^[255] The UK is home to a number of large energy companies, including two of the six oil and gas "supermajors" – BP and Royal Dutch Shell – and BG Group.^[256][257] In 2011, 40% of the UK's electricity was produced by gas, 30% by coal, 19% by nuclear power and 4.2% by wind, hydro, biofuels and wastes.^[258]

In 2009, the UK produced 1.5 million barrels per day (bbl/d) of oil and consumed 1.7 million bbl/d.^[259] Production is now in decline and the UK has been a net importer of oil since 2005.^[259] In 2010 the UK had around 3.1 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, the largest of any EU member state.^[259] In 2009, 66.5% of the UK's oil supply was imported.^[260]

In 2009, the UK was the 13th largest producer of natural gas in the world and the largest producer in the EU.^[261] Production is now in decline and the UK has been a net importer of natural gas since 2004.^[261] In 2009, half of British gas was supplied from imports and this is expected to increase to at least 75% by 2015, as domestic reserves are depleted.^[258]

Coal production played a key role in the UK economy in the 19th and 20th centuries. In the mid-1970s, 130 million tonnes of coal was being produced annually, not falling below 100 million tonnes until the early 1980s. During the 1980s and 1990s the industry was scaled back considerably. In 2011, the UK produced 18.3 million tonnes of coal.^[262] In 2005 it had proven recoverable coal reserves of 171 million tons.^[262] The UK Coal Authority has stated there is a potential to produce between 7 billion tonnes and 16 billion tonnes of coal through underground coal gasification (UCG) or 'fraking',^[263] and that, based on current UK coal consumption, such reserves could last between 200 and 400 years.^[264] However, environmental and social concerns have been raised over chemicals getting into the water table and minor earthquakes damaging homes.^[265][266]

In the late 1990s, nuclear power plants contributed around 25% of total annual electricity generation in the UK, but this has gradually declined as old plants have been shut down and ageing-related problems affect plant availability. In 2012, the UK had 16 reactors normally generating about 19% of its electricity. All but one of the reactors will be retired by 2023. Unlike Germany and Japan, the UK intends to build a new generation of nuclear plants from about 2018.^[258]