The Week 22Feb2020

Brit ainhas setanambitious -

perhapsevendaunting-target

of cuttingcarbonemissionsto

net-zeroby2050. Butit’smore

achievable than we mightthink.

Indeed,withsmart forward

planningand wiseinvestment,

Brit aincould le ad theway to a

cleaner, brighterfuturefor us all.

Climatechangeisone of thebiggest

challenges ourworld will face over the

next fewdecades.And it ’s onethat

governments around theglobe aretaking

incr easi ngly seri ously.

So far, 195nations,inclu dingthe UK,havesigne duptothe United

NationsFrameworkConvention onClimateChange’sParisAgreement,

ratifie din2016, whichaimstol imit theincrease in global average

temperaturetol essthan2°C abovepre-industriallevels.

Meanwhile, oneofTheresa May’sfinal act sasprime mini sterwas to

make theUKthe firstmemberoft he G7 groupofnations to legislate(via

theClimateAct 2019)for net-zerocarbondioxideemissions by 2050.

Giventhisfocus ,and agrowing tendency of consumerstot akeethical

andenvironmental issues into acco untwhenchoosin ggoodsand

services,busin essesneed to plan aheadfor major changesaswe

transitiontowards azero-carbonfuture. So what will this look like?

Abluep rint forradicalchange

Evenifcarboncredits (a controversialmetho dof“offsetting” carbon

emissions by buying cred itsfromlow-pollution countries)are used in

part to meettheUK’s2050target, thegovernment’sown Committee

on ClimateChangenotes that asteep mountainmustbeclimbedin

averyshort space of ti me –just30years –inorder to deliver a

zero-carbon economy.

Oneobstacleist he UK’s capacity forrapid uptakeofnew technologies.

TheCCC recommends,for example, thewidespreadinstallation ofheat

pumpsand othergreen technologies to heat homes–but it admits that

as yetthere arenot enoughqualifiedinstallationengineerstof acilitate

therequi redramp-up in scale.

Transport is anothe rkey area.Currently thereare only 210,000

electric carsin theUK. Just 1% of thepopulation owns anall-electric car,

whileonly2%own hybrids.The purchase priceofthese vehiclesremains

abarrier, whilegovernmentsubsidies forelectric carshave beencut,and

ther eiss till ashortageofchargingpoints.

Butfew sectors oftheeconomy will be impacted as directlyaspower

generation –weneed to move fromareliance on fossil fuelstowards

much greateruse ofclean, renewableenergy. Here,considerableprogress

hasalready beenmade. Carbon emissions in Britain have fallen by 42%

since 1990,reports ener gy regulatorOfgem.That’smorethanany other

majordeveloped economy, andit’smostlydue to thenear-eradication of

coalusage forelectricitygener ation.

Fundingthe zero-carbonfuture

AgeofDisruption

However, progress hasslowed. In 2018,the

UK’s greenhouse gasemissions fell by just

2.5%,down from a3%dropin2017–the

smallestreductionsince2012. Ofgem says that

forthe UK to meet itsclimatechangetargets,

“signifi cant” investment is needed,especially

in renewableenergytechnologies.

TheBriti sh wind ener gy revolution

Renewables alreadyproduce nearly athird of

Britain’senergy. Wind powerspecifically

provides half of theUK’srenewable power,

accordingtoRenewableUK,the wind power

generators’trade association.Britain is also

theworld ’s leadingproduce rofoffshorewind

–offshorewindfarmsnowgener ateenoughpowerannuallytorun 4.5m

homes, accordingtoRenewablesUK.

Howhas this beenachieved? It helpsthatvia theRenewables

Obligation,energycompanies must nowbylaw supplyaproportion of

thei relectricityfromgreen sourcesorriskbeing fined. This creates

demand for“green” energy generation. Meanwhile, thecostofnew

offshorewindpower hashalvedsince 2015.That’spartlydownto

evolving technology,but also duetosmarter financingmodels.

Forexample,Britain’s offshorewindcapacit yiss et to doubleover the

next tenyears,ast he governmenthas incentivised investment through its

“Contr acts forDiffere nce” scheme.Ineffect, renewabledevelopers bidfor

thechancetolockinapricefor theelectricitytheywill sellovera15-year

period. This protects them fromvolatile ener gy pric es,whilecompetition

betweenbiddersdrives downcosts.

Theneed forbattery storageand a‘smarter ’grid

Significantlymoreinvestm entisn eeded,bothinthe UK andacros sthe

world, if wind poweristoreach its full po tential. Oneproblem with

both wind andsolar ener gy is thei rintermittentnature. This will

mean investingina“flexible”or“smart” nationalgrid that can better

copewiththese so urcesofenergy,withbothdomestic andindustrial

usersincentivise dvia more re sponsi ve pric ingtouse energy during

off-peakperiods.

Intermittentgener ation will also requirehugeinvestm entinenergy

storage,tocapture ener gy when it’s generatedand releaseit when it’s

needed .Short-termstorage ,suchas batteries andpumpedhydropower,

could be usedto storegreen powerfor usewhen ther eislittlewindor

solarpoweravailable.Longer-term storage solutions include airstorage,

flowbatteries orhydrogenstorage.

Thereiss till much to be donetoachieve thetransition to azero-

carboneconomy.However,accordingtothe government, Britain’slow-

carbon economycould grow at arateof11% ayear–fourtimes faster

than therestoft he economy–until2030, potentiallycreatinguptotwo

million “green collar” jobs intheprocess.With governments

everywherehungryfor newwaystoboostgrowth, this lookslike

an irresistible opportunity.

THEEXPERTVIEW

Advertisement feature

“Weinthe WesternIsles will neverrun out of wind,” says Mary

Schmoller, whochairsStorasUibhi st,the parent companyofSouth

Uist RenewableEnergyLtd.

Unusually, both th eisland andthe companyare ownedbylocal

residents. TheyboughtSouthUistfromits previous ownerin2006,

andin2013installed three2.3-megawatt tu rbines to generate

ener gy andcash.

“Getting an island mightsoundgreat,”saysSchmoller,“but there

arelots of upkeepexpenses.The windfarm help suslookafter th erest

of theestate.”Incomefrom sellingpower to thenational gr id haspaid

foranew marina, whichwas completedin2017, andwill fund anew

ferry port,due to be finishedby2023.

Earlier th is year,Lombard cameonboard to su pportthe

refinancingofthe turbines -and, perhap s, to fund future projects.

“Wewould like to work with Lombard on anothe rthree turbines,”

says Schmoller. Theultimate goal,which wouldrequi re abroader

investment in in frastructure, wouldbetosellenergyback to the

Scottish mainlandvia a600-megawatt subsea cable.

Investingingreen energy

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