Renewable energy review 'plays down technical issues'
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Engineers have criticised a new report that says falling costs could mean renewable sources produce 45 per cent of the UK’s energy by 2030.
The report from the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), an independent body that advises the government, said new policies were needed to support renewable technology innovation to achieve cost reductions.
But the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) said the report — entitled The Renewable Energy Review — placed too much emphasis on economic factors and not enough on the technical challenges.
The UK should use a mix of sources, including renewables, nuclear and carbon capture and storage, to decarbonise electricity production, the report said. But offshore wind and marine needed research to remove uncertainties and bring down costs.
‘The report takes a simplistic view of the subject and plays down technical issues,’ said Prof Roger Kemp, a member of the IET’s Energy Policy Panel.
‘It refers to offshore turbines as having “very low running costs” without factoring in the potential routine maintenance of large structures in a highly aggressive environment and the lack of significant long-term operational experience in areas such as the North Sea.
‘When talking about wave energy, the report assumes that the limiting factor in adoption will be economics, while we consider that technical viability could be equally important.’
The IET also argued that the government was in danger of missing its current target of just 30 per cent renewable sources by 2030 unless more was done to invest in a future smart grid.
‘Demand response will have a central role to play, but the challenge of moving from the current ambition for smart metering to a smart grid with full public involvement is only hinted at,’ said Kemp. ‘The need to engage the public is crucial.’
The review also makes the following recommendations:
- Plans for offshore wind farms should not be increased without cost reduction and should be moderated if renewable targets can be met in other ways;
- The Green Investment Bank would be more effective if it were able to borrow from its inception;
- New commitments on funding for renewable heat investment in the period from 2015 to 2020 and in the 2020s will be required in due course;
- Training and accreditation of renewable heat installers should be a priority if supply chain bottlenecks are to be avoided; and
- Electrification and improved efficiency of transport should be pursued over the use of biofuels given the concerns about competition with land used for food production.
A report released yesterday by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said that, with the right policies, close to 80 per cent of the world’s energy supply could be met by renewable sources by 2050.
