The new Energy System Catapult study of Net Zero energy technology options sees electrification as a critical part of UK energy system decarbonisation. It has final energy consumption across its scenarios ranging from 525TWh/yr to 619TWh/yr by 2050- double the size of UK power today. But it says low carbon technologies can meet demand by 2050- with their contribution being a significant increase on earlier iterations of its analysis, reflecting they say ‘greater confidence in clean power technologies’ . And it’s also seen as being affordable: the report puts the cost of the transition within 1% of GDP by 2050’. However, it says that big changes have to be made, with it now being clearer which options to focus on. It says it will be essential to accelerate the deployment of key mature technologies such as offshore wind and solar, large-scale nuclear, heat nets and the electrification of home heating via heat pumps. In parallel it says the UK needs an accelerated programme of innovatio
Wind and solar are doing very well around the world as costs fall , and look like doing even better, with, for example, a recent study suggesting that, even in the relatively highly populated UK, there are environmentally appropriate sites available for a very significant expansion of on shore wind and solar. The study by Exeter University for Friends of the Earth says that 130 TWh could come from PV solar and 96 TWh from onshore wind, compared with 17 TWh at present- a 13 times increase. And it would only need 3% of UK land area. Of course that’s in addition to large inputs from offshore wind, and also wave and tidal projects. So the overall potential is very large and siting constraints need not be a major issue. And as green energy technology economics continues to improve , the UK, along with most other countries, looks likely to continue to move in rapidly in that direction. However, with technology advance and success there can also be problems, especially in a highly com