Letter: Chris Underwood, professor emeritus of energy modelling for the built environment Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne. With demand for electricity set to rocket, the UK cannot rely on renewables alone. Your business leader misses the bigger picture, as indeed do other supporters of renewable energy, such as Greenpeace. The bigger picture is that we can expect to see a substantial and sustained increase in electricity demand over the next 20-30 years due to the electrification of transport and heat. Heat alone, by the most conservative estimates, will add 300GW of peak thermal demand, which would add 100GW to the grid, dwarfing the current 65GW or so of peak UK demand. Yes, renewables backed up with energy storage and smart control can make an impact but a significant baseload method will still be needed.
Observer 18th Nov 2018 read more »
Letter Dr Robin Russell-Jones: high-quality uranium ore is in short supply, and can only supply the world’s existing reactors for another 50 years. After that the energy required to extract fissile material from low-quality ore will exceed the energy produced, at which point the technology becomes unsustainable. Recently, the chancellor admitted that he had delayed crucial legislation under pressure from the gambling industry. The only way to rationalise the UK’s chaotic energy policy is to accept that the nuclear and fracking industries have better lobbyists than the renewable sector.
Observer 18th Nov 2018 read more »