UK expected to use 50% renewable energy by 2030, NetZero by 2050 unlikely says report

According to the NIC report the country is on track to increase its renewable energy production and use.

However, as with many of these reports they state that more investment needs to be put into yet unrefined new technologies with the big ones being hydrogen and energy storage capabilities.

The report states: ‘A renewables-based system looks like a safer bet at present than constructing multiple new nuclear plants.’

“This report highlights the central role that low-cost wind will play in the UK’s clean energy system in the decades ahead, so that consumers reap the full benefits of cheap electricity, as well as the importance of developing new technologies like renewable hydrogen, wave and tidal power. The NIC is right to urge the government to continue with the positive progress they’ve made so far and to be ambitious in its vision to reach net zero emissions using a wide range of clean sources,” said the director of RenewableUK Barnaby Wharton.

The likes of Extinction Rebellion have been calling for the UK to become a NetZero carbon nation by 2050 but a new report published by Energy Systems Catapult states that the population will have to sacrifice a lot to ensure the target is hit.

It warns that unless people stop eating red meat and stop flying, (things that the populace are very unlikely to want to give up in order to appease the likes of Greta Thunberg and other left wing environmentalist groups) the target is unlikely to be achieved.

The report also claims that the rush to NetZero emissions will ultimately result in more harm being done to the environment than if measures were introduced more gradually.

‘Against the bounds of plausibility’

“A number of groups have called for net zero to be accelerated to 2025, 2030 or 2040. Achieving net zero significantly earlier than 2050 in our modelling exceeds even our most speculative measures, with rates of change for power, heat and road transport that push against the bounds of plausibility,” states the report.

Despite the above, the report suggests that NetZero could be achieved by 2050 but only if the government pours billions of pounds of investment into technologies (that again are still in their early stages of development).

Technologies such as hydrogen, miniature nuclear reactors and carbon capture are highly unlikely to be ready in time to make a difference.

Whether the targets are realistic or not, energy suppliers need to be prepared to come under increasing pressure to provide green tariffs that genuinely provide clean energy to their consumers.

100% Clean Energy Tariff to Tackle ‘Greenwashing’

Replacing the heating system of every UK home could take 1000 years at the current rate says report

What is the Smart Export Guarantee?