How Is The UK Preparing To Switch To Greener Electricity?

Hello everyone!

This is Amy’s Hot Topic of the week.

Last week we talked about the rise in floating solar panel farms, “floatovoltaics”, especially in South-East Asia, and the implications for renewable energy and aquatic ecosystems. This week I want to talk about how the UK government is planning to prepare for the goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. This is also the date that electricity generation and consumption is forecasted to have doubled by – says the UK government’s Climate Change Committee.

How Much Will It Cost To Achieve Net Zero Carbon Emissions?

The Financial Times has said that for the UK to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, investment of £100bn to £140bn is required, while the government estimated £170bn to £210bn. This money would be used to upgrade the electricity networks across the country so they can cope with the switch from fossil fuels to clean electricity. This includes expanding and reinforcing onshore cables and pylons that carry the electricity to all the homes and businesses from power stations.

There are many investors in electricity, and regulators face a hard time keeping investors happy and making energy bills affordable. Investors want the financing necessary to maintain and upgrade the infrastructure, as this doesn’t yield a return on investment, so this area of expense is often neglected. However, as we all know, it has become very expensive to pay electricity bills in recent times.

Implementing Greener Electricity At Every Scale

Although many things are out of our control as citizens using electricity, for example how much carbon emissions big businesses generate and how greedy it seems that electricity bills have increased so much. These are some examples of opinions. It is important to be knowledgeable on what large corporations are doing in terms of climate action, but the focus should start at an individual level. If you don’t make change with yourself, you cannot start to make change for the community and then make a larger impact.

If each individual makes changes to their behaviours, it can be ENCOURAGING and INSPIRING for others to also make change. Building a community of people who are passionate to heal the planet and willing to help do so is vital. This leads to being able to influence big businesses and governments, for example via voting for elected leaders who advocate for the right change. It all starts with one step on the right path.

The less electricity you use, the less you have to pay. This is an important incentive to reduce electricity creation and consumption. In these wild times any incentive is important. Reducing costs in recent times is very important as many people are struggling to pay bills.

There are many ways to help as an individual with climate change AND reducing electricity costs. Living under 2 kWh per day per person doesn’t just reduce your costs but it greatly helps the planet. To help the reduction of electricity it is important to measure and manage creation and consumption. Another way to help is to use more renewable methods of electricity, this could be using solar panels for example.

It all starts with simple changes, and from there you can build a greener life.

I hope everyone had a lovely week, and I will see you next week for another Amy’s Hot Topic.

Bye! #2kWh #undertwok

References:
Financial Times – How the UK’s electricity networks are shaping up for net zero – Rachel Millard – 11th February 2024.