Renew Extra Weekly

The USA and China are battling it out over climate change responses, part of their wider global contest, with the deployment of renewables being to the fore.  So far, with its huge expansion programme, China is leading in renewable capacity terms, with, according to IRENA’s end 2020 data , around 895 GW of renewables installed, including 370 GW of hydro, compared to 292 GW of renewables including hydro in the USA. However, given the different nature and efficiency of energy use in each country, this doesn’t translate into such a big lead in terms of the share of electricity supplied (around 28% in China, about 20% in the USA), with China having much more low load factor solar PV capacity than the USA (254 GW compared to 74 GW), and much larger curtailment losses for wind, due to its weaker grid system.  And in terms of total energy supplied (for power, heat and transport), they are about equal with 10-11% being met from renewables, with both making use of bio-energy of various...

The new Net Zero Carbon by 2050 plan develops on Boris Johnson’s target (see my last post ) of getting all UK power from non-fossil sources by 2035, with renewables dominating.  Some of that output will be used to power domestic heat pumps, with £5000 grants on offer to help them spread, as detailed in a parallel Heat and Building plan . But hydrogen heating projects may also get support if they are proven to be viable. In addition, electric vehicles/chargers got strong support, with £620m in grants. And there was also support for one more large nuclear plant and for small modular reactors. There’s also an extra £625m for tree-planting and peat restoration and £100 m for Greenhouse Gas Removal innovation.  Business & Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said ‘The policies and spending brought forward in the Net Zero Strategy mean that since the Ten Point Plan we have mobilised over £26 bn of government capital investment for the green industrial revolution. Along with regulatio...

At the Conservative Party Conference in early October, PM Boris Johnson said that he wanted nearly all of the UK’s electricity to come from renewables by 2035, with the implication being that offshore wind capacity would have to at least quadruple and maybe get up to 60GW. Other technologies would also have to expand rapidly. The BEIS press release said ‘to ensure this ambition becomes a reality, the government will double down on efforts to deploy a new generation of home-grown technologies – from offshore wind, hydrogen and solar, to nuclear, onshore wind and Carbon Capture and Storage’.  This 100% non-fossil power 2035 target brings forward by 15 years the government’s commitment to a fully decarbonised power system by 2050, set out in the 2020 Energy White Paper and is part of the basis of UK’s national COP26 position, to be outlined in more detail  in the promised new Net Zero plan- now expected next week! But not everyone liked the way thing were going. The Global Warm...

In a new energy and climate plan , the European Commission has proposed a 40% by 2030  target for renewable energy, as part of its new ‘ Fit for 55 ’ package, which aims to reduce EU greenhouse gas emissions by 55% from 1990 levels by 2030. It also looks at border carbon tariffs, home insulation upgrades, vehicle emission cuts, and low carbon aviation options. Perhaps inevitably, some of these moves have met opposition , for example from heavy carbon using countries and those concerned about border carbon taxes . But there were also objections from those who felt much more could and should be done. For example, more attention to energy efficiency was called for.  And more renewables. As Euractiv reported,  SolarPower Europe had earlier said ‘reaching 45% renewable energy by 2030 is possible and would set the EU on a cost-effective trajectory to become climate neutral before 2050’. Then again, not all renewables were welcomed by all. The EC has been trying to develop a t...

The UK governments much delayed sustainable heating strategy is still eagerly awaited, not least given the UK energy cost crisis. With gas prices high, a coal plant had to be cranked up to meet power demand when offshore wind input was low and then a cross-channel power link went out of service. The resultant rise in power prices and the prospect of more energy prices rises, raise major, political, economic and social issues. However, more optimistically it was argued that, longer term, higher gas prices could help accelerate the shift from gas to renewables , backed by energy storage.  That might include solar with hydrogen back up and more offshore wind projects further out to sea in windier areas with higher load factors, and also tidal stream projects with inherently high levels of power availability.  So renewables could become more reliable. They could also be a hedge against future wild gas price swings. Certainly, some claimed, we could have avoided the mess by pushi...