The UN’s statement that the world must end its use of "dirty" fuel and rapidly ditch carbon intensive fuels to mitigate climate change hit the headlines recently.
The long-awaited study by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released in Berlin last month, predicted a rise in global surface temperature between 3.7-4.8°C if no action is taken.
According to an IPCC spokesperson, that action will call for major change in the energy sector and a drive towards "getting the carbon out of electricity". Renewable energy will be a critical part of that action, he said.
While accepting that there was more to be done, energy and climate change secretary Ed Davey said the UK government was leading the way on renewable energy, with renewable electricity doubling in the last few years.
Latest provisional figures released by DECC (March 2014) indicate that, compared with the same period a year earlier, between November 2013 and January 2014:
- the UK’s primary energy consumption fell 5.2% (on a temperature-adjusted basis it fell by 2.3%;
- indigenous energy production fell 2.7%, with crude oil and natural gas liquids production down 3.2% and gas production down 2.3%;
- coal production was down 26.6%, with January 2014 production at a record low;
- coal provided 40.6% of electricity generated by major power producers, with gas’s share at 24.4% and nuclear at 20.3%;
- bioenergy generation was up 8.9% as a result of the partial conversion to biomass of Drax and the fall in coal generation;
- the low carbon share of electricity generation by major power producers was up five points to 35.1%.
Looking at provisional statistics for 2013, renewables’ share of electricity generation rose from 11.3% in 2012 to a record 14.8%. The increase was particularly notable in the fourth quarter, when renewables’ share of electricity generation rose from 12.6% in Q4 2012 to 17.6% in Q4 2013. This was because of greater capacity for wind and bioenergy generation.
Government approval has just been given for eight major renewable energy projects, supporting 8,500 jobs. The contracts include offshore wind farms and conversions of coal-powered plants to biomass and are the first to be awarded under the government’s energy market reforms. All the projects will receive the government’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) – effectively guaranteeing prices and potentially costing up to £1bn a year in subsidies.
One of the projects is the conversion of Drax’s Unit 2 plant to biomass. However, the proposed conversion of its Unit 3 plant has not been approved. Drax’s shares fell 13% on the news and the company has started legal proceedings against the government.