UK 'will struggle' to meet 2020 renewables goal

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/30/renewable-energy-target-skea

UK 'will struggle' to meet 2020 renewables goal

Coalition of energy and climate scientists reveal scenarios for how lifestyles and energy generation in Britain must change to reach 2050 emission reduction targets

Alok Jha, green technology correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 30 April 2009 00.05 BST

The UK will "struggle" to meet its 2020 target to source 15% of its electricity from renewable sources, according to a leading energy expert who also advises the UK government on climate policy.

Jim Skea, research director of the http://www.ukerc.ac.uk/Home.aspx">UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) and a member of the government's advisory http://www.theccc.org.uk/">Committee on Climate Change warned yesterday that, while renewable energy would play an important role in meeting the UK's target to reduce CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050, the more immediate 2020 goal of sourcing 15% of UK electricity from renewables would be "a very big struggle".

He made the comments at a briefing to launch a new UKERC report that presents scenarios for how lifestyles and energy generation in Britain would have to change reach the 2050 climate targets. The study concludes that investing in low-carbon energy technologies in the short term will save the UK billions of pounds in its goal to reach its long-term targets while consumer resistance to change would also raise the cost of a low-carbon Britain.

The scenarios were based on two years of work by a coalition of energy and climate scientists. Each study took in various constraints such as how willing consumers might be to use energy more efficiently or change the amount and way they travel. In all the scenarios, the electricity sector would be completely carbon free by 2050 through the use of nuclear power, renewables and carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. This clean electricity would then become the main source of power for homes and transport.

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