A report by a group of scientists launched at the Royal Society has found that the UK lacks a coherent energy system that can effectively meet future energy needs while preventing rapid climate change. The report calls for a new vision for energy generation that is based on the long term replacement of fossil fuels through the development and deployment of new technologies.
Professor John Shepherd, lead author, said; "For the sake of future generations we cannot afford to wait until our climate is changed dramatically or the oil runs out before we end our dependency on fossil fuels. If the UK wants to provide global leadership it has to convert talk into action.
"The world needs new ways to generate our electricity and the rate of progress over the last decade has been disappointing. It is difficult to predict what will be required in 50 years time or what breakthroughs will have been made but we must deploy the technologies we have now and not be afraid of being radical in our thinking about new sources of energy."
The report, "Towards a low carbon future" outlines a roadmap of the technologies which can play a part in the short (up to 2020), medium (2020-2050) and longer term (beyond 2050) in decarbonising electricity. They include:
- Short-term transition: deployment of renewables such as wind, tidal and biomass, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), and the renewal of nuclear power if issues such as the safe disposal of waste can be addressed
- Medium-term transition: new marine, bio-energy and advanced solar technologies, synthetic fuels and wide spread deployment of CCS
- Longer-term transition: advanced energy storage and delivery technology to allow the wide spread use of intermittent energy from wind, the sea and the sun and potential deployment of nuclear fusion.
The report also calls for major gains in energy conservation and efficiency and the examination of non technological developments in the wider political, economic and social context.
