With our life-or-death reliance on energy, it might come as a surprise that the UK is struggling. For the first time, next year, Britain will not have enough "dispatchable energy generation capacity" (essentially, power plants which can be switched off and on to meet excess demand, contrasted against wind and solar energy which is a non-reliable, non-programmable energy source).
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| Is this our future? (Source) |
Over the last 5 years, Britain has lost 20% of its baseload dispatchable energy and have no replacements planned in the near, with the further hope of shutting down the remaining 13 coal power stations, which generate a third of the UK's energy. This would mean the potential to have power-cuts!
From this point we can go two ways. We can build cheaper, coal-powered stations and provide us with the energy we need in a short period of time.
Alternatively, this gives us the opportunity to invest in cleaner more energy and carbon efficient fuels. The UK has a great opportunity to move into gas-fired and nuclear power stations, cleaner fuels with less environmental impact. A great blog on the intricacies of nuclear can be found (here). At this point, most people would say, "oh, but why not invest into wind and solar?". Well the government advocates no longer relying on subsidies, urging the private sector to take the burden of the investment.
Maybe it's a good move? Only time will tell!
Hi Louis, I found this a really interesting post. I didn't realise how close the UK were to an energy crisis, I guess you don't tend to associate MEDCs with this sort of struggle? I think I personally presume that the UK can just import from other places... but then I guess in terms of being self-sufficient in energy this isn't a helpful replacement.
ReplyDeleteI think that some people would question a decision to invest in nuclear power due to the history of destructive events associated with it. The fact that investment in renewable energy has become decentralized and reliant on the private sector is also interesting - particularly given the COP21 developments! However perhaps it should be an incentive for companies to show they're active environmentalists? It would certainly be good for PR to show they care for their surrounding environment...
Your blog has certainly given me a lot to think about!
No you tend not to think about developed countries running out of power! But it also happened during the 1970s. The UK could import, and does so on a regular basis from France. But you make a good point, energy security is highly important.
DeleteThe issue for private sector investment is the short term costs are so high, few companies are willing to invest. Furthermore, as climate and weather is so variable, there is large uncertainty on the security renewables provide. Although nuclear is contraversial, it provides reliable, cheap and 'clean' energy. We sort of have an option between going for the bad or terrible options, and I feel we, as a country, should be pragmatic about how we generate our energy into the future.
My next few posts will look at how environmental damaging fossil fuels are and how much cleaner nuclear or renwables are!