This important trilemma was the topic of the recent Daily Telegraph/E.ON Talking Energy Debate. Report by Andrew Charlesworth.
On the panel: top, from left, Dr Paul Golby (E.ON chief executive), Damian Reece, (Telegraph Media Group head of business), Lord Whitty (president, Combined Heat and Power Association), Prof Tom Burke (director of E3G) and Malcolm Wicks MP, the Prime Mini
Currently, the UK’s electricity system would seem to be at a watershed. The closure of end-of-life nuclear and high-emitting coal power stations is coinciding with ambitious commitments to reduce carbon emissions and the demise of North Sea gas. And our distribution system, designed for a 20th-century centralised generating system, is currently undergoing a transformation to cope with the variable and highly distributed nature of renewable sources from which we are aiming to harvest more of our power in the near future. Indeed, in 2008, some energy market analysts were predicting rolling blackouts in Britain after 2013.
But that was before the recession, which diminished demand for power from industry and gave more time to address the power-generation challenges the country faces. And progress has been made with the Government providing strong support for renewables and moving forward on its plans for nuclear power. Yet, particularly after the disappointment of Copenhagen, much more still needs to be done. Read more.
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