PB Powering the Future PB Powering the Future

Further work

Powering the Future highlights the critical need for further independent work and government action in order to meet the UK's carbon reduction targets for 2050

At a strategic level this further work includes:

Policy development

  • Review of markets related to carbon reduction
  • Establish means of coordinating carbon reduction policies

UK capability development

  • Promote development of skills and capacity

Sector-specific work

  • Identify preferred strategies
  • Promote measures
  • Support rollout

Further work - Transport

  1. Identify issues and opportunities for transition of road transport from petroleum fuel to electricity; prepare a strategy and timeline for the changes required, including economic, social, environmental and infrastructure issues.
  2. Prepare a strategy to increase the capacity and use of public transport networks in order to reduce road transport for passengers and freight.
  3. Evaluate the potential application of CO2 emission reduction measures to aviation and marine transport to enable an appropriate strategy for emissions reduction to be developed consistent with international best practice.
  4. Evaluate the impact of electric vehicle adoption on UK road transport infrastructure and facilities; define a strategy to promote implementation of the necessary changes at each level of the system.
  5. Investigate further potential options to radically reduce CO2 emissions by the HGV fleet, including assessment of alternative fuels, hybrid vehicle concepts and direct electricity supply.

Further research - Domestic

  1. Establish a programme to qualify best-practice external or internal wall insulation and ventilation heat recovery technologies, and the appropriate methods of applying them to the diversity of the existing housing stock.
  2. Prepare a strategy to promote the wide application of radical energy reduction improvements. These could include providing financial incentives to owners (e.g. stamp duty adjustment according to property energy performance) and placing additional obligations on mortgage lenders.
  3. Prepare a strategy to promote the application of domestic renewable heat aimed particularly at displacing coal and oil by biomass and the wider adoption of solar water heating technology.
  4. Work with other EU countries to define an escalator of appliance energy efficiency requirements to progressively drive down the energy consumption of domestic appliances.

Further work - Industry

  1. Review the status of industry sector CO2 emissions reduction efforts; prepare a strategy to strengthen actions and delivery of efficiency improvements in products and processes.
  2. Review the mechanisms available to fund process improvements in industry to reduce CO2 emissions; develop strategies to support industry in achieving reductions in emissions without breaching EU regulations.
  3. Identify those EU regulations which limit the funding of CO2 emissions reduction measures in industry; propose and negotiate changes to ensure support is permitted to prevent industry leaving the EU and increasing its emissions by transferring production elsewhere.
  4. Assess the application to major industrial emitters of carbon capture and storage technology currently being supported through the UK CCS pilot project competition, identifying changes required in scale, process and operation; establish a programme to support the development needed to make this technology appropriate to industrial applications.

Further work - Commercial

  1. Review the incentives and obligations on owners of commercial property and governmental bodies to ensure that existing property is progressively upgraded to defined standards comparable with the current requirements of Part L of the Building Regulations for insulation, ventilation and energy use.
  2. Review the current strategy for the application of the Building Regulations to existing property; ensure that the regulations become progressively more demanding of existing property.
  3. Establish a programme of technology development and promotion, including best-practice demonstration installations, for the application of renewable electricity generation in this sector.

Further work - Electricity

  1. Review the current strategy for renewable development to identify what changes to the electricity system are required to handle larger scales of intermittent renewable generation. Assess the role of generators, supply companies, distribution companies and the transmission system operator in mitigating the risks to supply reliability.
  2. Review the impact on the electricity system generation mix of a large amount of renewable generation by 2020. Assess the economic viability of different types of fossil generation at reduced load factors and the likely consequences on overall carbon emissions by the sector to 2050.
  3. Assess the implications of the battery charging demands of a large-scale rollout of electric vehicles on distribution system capacity and on transmission and generating system operation.
  4. Prepare a strategy for infrastructure development to support a progressive extension of roadside charging facilities with 'smart grid' control facilities for mobile electricity consumers.
  5. Assess the impact on charging mechanisms, tariffs and competitive electricity supply of large numbers of electric vehicles becoming new mobile consumers.
  6. Prepare a strategy for 'smart grid' definition, development, standardisation and implementation to support economic and reliable network operation and electricity supply through the radical changes foreseen in the next 30 years.

 

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