Renew Extra Weekly

Despite its economic problems, construction delays and cost overshoots, the prospect for nuclear power have been talked up of late. It is being portrayed as a way to respond to climate change and ensure continued energy security in a world where energy demand continues to rise, the use of fossil fuels is increasingly reduced and the use of variable renewables increases. The global lobby group, the World Nuclear Association , says that nuclear generation globally will grow by 2.6% annually, reaching 615 GWe by 2040, up from 394 GW now. Indeed, its upper scenario sees nuclear capacity growing faster, to 839 GWe in 2040. Even under the Lower Scenario, a steady increase is seen over the entire reporting period.  That is all very optimistic judging by the views presented in the latest edition of the independent World Nuclear Industry Status Report , which assesses the status and trends of the international nuclear industry. It reports that, in 2020, nuclear power generation output ...

The UK is revamping its energy plans, with, as noted in an earlier post, a new Net Zero Policy now out. In parallel it is revising its National Policy Statements (NPSs) on energy-related infrastructure planning.  National Policy Statements are overviews designated under the Planning Act 2008 to provide guidance for decision-makers on the application of government policy when determining development consent for major projects. So they set the ‘on the ground’ reality of policy.  The current suite of NPS on energy were designated by the Department of Energy and Climate Change in 2011, and are now quite dated. The full set consists of the overarching EN1 NPS, EP 2 on Fossil fuel electricity generating infrastructure, EN3 on Renewable Energy Infrastructure, EN4 on Gas supply infrastructure & gas and oil pipelines, EN5 on Electricity Networks Infrastructure and EN6 on Nuclear Power Generation. The 2020 Energy White Paper Powering our Net Zero Future, committed the government to...

The Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Glasgow in November saw some new headline emission targets, though with target dates that seem very far off- China and Saudi Arabia said they would aim to be net zero carbon by 2060, while India said it would try to get there by 2070! But around 40 countries did pledge to phase out coal well before then, some by 2030, others (the poorer ones) by 2040. And China confirmed that it would try to bring emissions to a peak before 2030, while India said it would reduce carbon intensity by 45% by 2030.   However, while the overall targets still looked weak, there were some other commitments . A Global Methane Pledge was backed by 105 countries, including the US, Japan & Canada, supporting a 30% cut by 2030 in emissions of methane , a greenhouse gas responsible for ~30% of global warming. 100 countries, including Brazil, pledged to end Deforestation by 2030- but Indonesia later dropped out. More than 40 c...

The UK governments new long awaited Net Zero Carbon heating and building plan says that ‘ultimately, Net Zero will mean gradually, but completely, moving away from burning fossil fuels for heating. Which is why we are setting the ambition of phasing out the installation of new natural gas boilers from 2035.’ However, given the potential for backlashes against the scale and cost of what needs to be be done, and this high level commitment in particular, it wants to move slowly on choosing a replacement. So although the headline story is that it backs heat pumps, the strategy is relatively cautious and nuanced on that.   It says that ‘the future is likely to see a mix of low-carbon technologies used for heating: electrification of heat for buildings using hydronic (air-to-water or ground-to-water) heat pumps, heat networks and potentially switching the natural gas in the grid to low-carbon hydrogen’. However, it goes on, ‘while there is work to be done to identify the best solut...

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...