'The hourly modelling shows a surplus of energy seventy-four per cent of the time.' Photo: Master Wen / Unsplash.
‘The ZCB model is one of the most detailed studies to date.’
A power of good: Anthony Woolhouse on a plan for a zero carbon UK
In early December the Centre for Alternative Technology (Canolfan y Dechnoleg Amgen) (CAT) ran a course on a possible route to producing 100 per cent of the UK’s energy needs from renewable energy. The work is called Zero Carbon Britain (ZCB).
CAT is a good example of an organisation that Quakers need to work with. For example, we learnt that over fifty per cent of local authorities have declared a climate emergency, but that few have produced a plan of action. On the CAT website you will find a list of the actions a local authority can take.
The ZCB approach demonstrates that we already have all the technologies we need to achieve net zero. It involves powering down: by using energy more efficiently we can reduce power needs by sixty per cent. Energy for heating can be reduced by half. Reducing how much and changing our modes of travel could cut energy demand for transport by seventy-eight per cent. It would then be possible to supply all of this ‘powered down’ energy demand with renewable and carbon-neutral energy. In the ZCB scenario, wind provides about half of the energy (most of the energy in this scenario is produced in the form of electricity; carbon-neutral synthetic fuels play an important role where this is not possible).
The ZCB model is one of the most detailed studies to date on balancing demand and supply in a renewable way. It uses hourly weather data from a ten-year period to identify whether we can produce enough energy at all times – when the wind isn’t blowing, the sun isn’t shining and our energy demand is high. The hourly modelling shows a surplus of energy seventy-four per cent of the time. It ensures there is enough energy at other times by:
- shifting energy demand using smart appliances, and batteries, heat storage and hydrogen in the short-term
- using synthetic gas for long-term storage.
Carbon-neutral synthetic fuels have the same chemical make up as fossil fuel oil and gas, but can be created by combining hydrogen (produced by electrolysis using surplus renewable electricity) with carbon from sustainable UK-grown biomass, making them carbon neutral.
About ten per cent of greenhouse emissions come from food production, land use changes and land management practices. Our land management practice must include restoring essential biodiversity. Through dietary change, food waste reduction and improved agricultural practices we could provide a healthy, sustainable diet for the whole of the UK. We could become more self-reliant in food, reducing imports from forty-two per cent to seventeen per cent; our health would be improved by eating a more balanced diet; seventy-five per cent of the land used for grazing livestock could be repurposed, which could also offer new income streams to farmers. Forest area is doubled. These forests, and the restoration of peatlands results in a huge amount of CO2 capture. I was impressed by the report and encourage all Friends to take a look.
The ZCB report is available, free, at www.cat.org.uk/zcb.
Comments
Why cook cake when it’s so cheap in the shops? Why eat cake when it is (a) so rich in sugar and (b) production uses so much fuel? Let’s all campaign for no more TV foodie programms!
By john0708 on 9th January 2020 - 15:25
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