Under the UK government's ambitious and wide ranging Low Carbon Transition Plan, by 2020 some 40% of Britain's electricity will come from what Ed Miliband (Energy and Climate Change Secretary) called the "trinity of low carbon" - renewables, nuclear and clean coal - and overall greenhouse gas emissions will be cut by 34% relative to 1990.
Greenhouse gas emissions are already 21% lower than in 1990, but a significant proportion of that can be presumed to be an unintended consequence of the market driven move to natural gas for power generation (following privatisation). Even though power plant new build in the UK is currently predominantly gas fired combined cycle the government envisages a reduced percentage of gas in the power generation fuel mix, from around 45% now to 29% in 2020, with gas imports staying at 2010 levels for the whole of the following decade (instead of approximately doubling "if we carried on with business as usual," said Mr Miliband).
Renewables, mainly wind (onshore and offshore), are projected to go from a little over 5% now to around 31% in 2020. The figures for nuclear and coal are forecast to be 8% and 22% respectively (currently 13% and 32%), with a number of ageing nuclear plants scheduled to close down as well as coal units unable to comply with the EU Industrial Emissions Directive. In announcing the Transition Plan Ed Miliband reaffirmed his commitment to coal, saying "when it comes to the future of energy in Britain, clean coal has an essential role to play." The government has already taken a number of steps aimed at supporting CCS, as well encouraging a nuclear renaissance.
Also published on 15 July, in parallel with the new Transition Plan, were the UK Low Carbon Industrial Strategy, which sets out the planned government interventions in key industry sectors, including the first allocations from the £405m funding for green technology announced in this year's budget, and the Renewable Energy Strategy, which maps out how to achieve the UK's target of getting 15% of all energy (electricity, heat and transport) from renewables by 2020.
Among the new power related initiatives included in the welter of documentation published on 15 July are the following:
* Up to £120m to advance the offshore wind industry in the UK.
* Up to £60m to help wave and tidal development, including: up to £9.5m investment in the Wave Hub sub-sea test "socket" off Cornwall and up to a further £10m funding to make the South West the UK's first Low Carbon Economic Area, a world centre for wave and tidal energy; up to £10m for testing facilities at the National Renewable Energy Centre in Northumberland and up to £8m for the European Marine Energy Centre in the Orkneys; and up to £22m for a new Marine Renewables Proving Fund for testing and demonstration of wave and tidal technologies.
* DECC to take direct responsibility from Ofgem for establishing a new regime to provide faster access to the grid for renewables, "instead of waiting for over a decade for grid connection, as can happen now", said Ed Miliband. Ofgem powers are also to be strengthened and the reduction of carbon emissions is to become explicitly part of its mission.
* Up to £15 million to be allocated to a new Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre to combine the knowledge, practices and expertise of around 30 manufacturing companies with the capabilities of universities.
* Launch of a new Office for Renewable Energy Deployment and Office for Carbon Capture and Storage, analogous to the already established Office for Nuclear Development.
* Up to £6m to start development of a 'smart grid', including a policy road map next spring.
* £11.2m to help regions and local authorities prepare for and speed up planning decisions on renewable and low carbon energy. The government has already introduced a new "single consent regime" for key energy infrastructure projects, with a new Infrastructure Planning Commission to start work next year.
* The final shortlist of schemes for the Severn tidal power feasibility study confirmed as three barrages (including the Cardiff-Weston barrage) and two lagoons. Three innovative schemes have also won funding to support their development.
* Consultation launched on changes to the existing Renewables Obligation, with the possibility of extending its lifetime to at least 2037 and the introduction of a 20 year limit on support, to make it capable of delivering the target of 30% renewables by 2020.
* Approval for the UK's largest biomass power station, on Teesside.
* Consultation on a new 'clean energy cash-back' scheme (aka feed in tariff) to be introduced next year for those that generate their own electricity from low carbon sources. A similar scheme for renewable heat will follow in April 2011.
* £6m of funding to explore geothermal energy applications.
The UK government believes its Low Carbon Transition Plan - seen as a step towards achieving a greenhouse gas emission reductions of at least 80% by 2050 - is the "most systematic response to climate change of any major developed economy, and sets the standard for others in the run up to crucial global climate talks in Copenhagen in December." It follows the Climate Change Act 2008, which constrains greenhouse gas emissions for successive five year periods) and sets legally binding "carbon budgets" (a world first, claims the government, which has also allocated carbon budgets to each of its departments).
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