How can we open the door to a decarbonised future?
It emerged recently that Britain has reached a tipping point in electricity generation. During the first five months of 2019, we generated more power from zero-carbon sources than fossil fuels - the first time since the Industrial Revolution.
Wind, solar, and nuclear power generation accounted for much of the switch. With progress continuing in this low-carbon direction, it would be easy to think we are pushing on an open door when it comes to decarbonising energy, particularly as the UK has now committed to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
True? Well, not quite. Though the door is unlocked, the way ahead is significantly constrained by outdated policy and regulations that could significantly undermine the new ways of working that we urgently need. This is compounded by confusion over what decarbonisation ‘pathway’ we’ll take.
Taking up the challenge
Our existing patterns of energy production, management, usage and monetisation that have resulted from various government policies over many decades don’t necessarily lend themselves to decarbonisation. Reducing the emissions that are causing climate change requires a widespread, rapid rollout of ideas and technologies that, often, already exist.
The 2019 Future Energy Scenarios from National Grid, published this month, indicates that net zero emissions is achievable, but would require improved energy efficiency, changes to consumer behaviour, greater use of low carbon generation sources, as well as the widespread adoption of CCUS and heating homes by hydrogen.
The costs of sustainable distributed generation, including energy storage, continue to fall in parallel with improvements in operating efficiency, as technologies mature. Digital platforms bring further value by optimally managing such resources as part of a co-ordinated local energy system, matching energy resources and local demand profiles efficiently, in real-time.
These distributed energy solutions therefore can offer an attractive investment proposition today. In the future, as part of a digital whole energy system, the economic and decarbonisation value will only increase.