Electric dreams
Isn’t it time we had a reality check over net zero? Data from Imperial College London shows that removing all hydrocarbons from UK energy supply by 2050, as Theresa May’s government enshrined in law with no debate, will require a 400 per cent increase in peak electricity demand – that is, with the population at its present level of 68 million (with net immigration running at about 700,000 a year this would be an underestimate). Electricity supply would need to increase more than fivefold.
At present more than 90 per cent of UK energy supply comes from petrol, diesel, oil and gas but these would no longer be available by 2050 if the net zero target is to be met. On average every UK household uses 13kw/hr of electricity a day but that would have to increase to 127kw/hr.
There is no way that wind and solar could possibly meet that target bearing in mind that the wind does not always blow, the sun does not always shine, and any existing means of large-scale electricity storage is a pipe dream.
William Loneskie, Oxton, Berwickshire
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