UK Energy plan for 2020
The government have announced their plans for ensuring that we have reliable and cheap electricity supplies from 2020.
The key words are renewable energy, electricity and wind. Energy from renewables is to provide between 30 to 40% of consumed electricity in the UK (the current figure is 3%).
20% renewable energy by 2020
Wind farms
Wind farms are an important part of this target, it is probably being seen as the main renewable resource!. An extra 4000 wind turbines are planned. The split between onshore and offshore wind turbines is not clear, hopefully the vast majority will be offshore!Wave and tidal energy have been identified as important parts of the plan. Exactly what is planned is not yet clear.
Smart meters and proper insulation together with solar panels are part of the plan.
Other measures are to encourage millions of us to take up cycling! An interesting move is to create a charging network within the UK to refuel hybrid electric cars - a necessary requirement if we want people to buy these cars! All mainline rail routes are to be converted to take electric trains.
Most of the plans are fairly obvious and are not political. But one measure that is very political are the plans to raise taxes by putting additional charges on our fuel bills with social tariffs which will hit middle class families more. Claims that these taxes will cost families an extra £92 per year have been rejected by critics who claim the cost would be up to £230 per annum in the years up to 2020!
As important as providing energy is the need to cut carbon emissions significantly. To that end fossil fuels cannot be used to generate electricity, unless carbon capture mechanisms are in place.
Renewable energy is generally not reliable - the wind might not blow strongly and tidal and wave energy is not available 24 x 7.
The other way of looking at a 40% target for electricity from renewable sources is that 60% of the electricity will not be from renewable sources!
Nuclear power is an essential part of the plans in order to ensure 100% energy availability, and fossil fuel power stations will also be needed although these must have carbon capture processes in place.
The energy in the waves can be captured to do 'useful' work (work that we consider to be useful!). Wave energy is free but it needs to operate some device that generates electricity. There are two basic types of systems designed to harvest wind energy, they are shoreline devices and offshore devices, the names speak for themselves!