These pages set out our wider thinking on issues relating to innovation, governance and practice for a sustainable, secure and affordable energy system. This includes contributions from the IGov team, the wider EPG group, as well as invited authors. These articles are not reviewed.
New Thinking
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New Thinking Blog: Will the negawatt solution work in the domestic sector?
Will the negawatt solution work in the domestic sector? Matthew Lockwood, IGov Team, 14th May 2013 About Matthew: http://geography.exeter.ac.uk/staff/index.php?web_id=Matthew_Lockwood Twitter: https://twitter.com/climatepolitics The idea that the best way to provide energy is simply to avoid unnecessary use in the first place has been around for some time. Back in 1989, Amory Lovins coined the term “negawatts” (energy saved by cutting out waste) to emphasise the contrast with megawatts of power or heat that needs to be generated if that waste is not eradicated. With the current Energy Bill potentially providing the biggest chance in a decade for rethinking
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New Thinking Blog: British energy policy: descending to a combination of pork barrel politics and desperation?
British energy policy: descending to a combination of pork barrel politics and desperation? Catherine Mitchell, IGov Team, 10th May, 2013 About Catherine: http://geography.exeter.ac.uk/staff/index.php?web_id=Catherine_Mitchell Given that everyone – householders through to businesses – use energy, and that its use is a major cause of climate change, energy policy has significant implications for everyone in society. It can be a force for good – providing jobs; making lives more comfortable as houses become more energy efficient (warmer and free of draughts); be a stimulator of innovation, skills and new economic growth; and enabling those individuals and
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Guest Blog: Heat Policy – Cinderella or Wicked Step-Mother
Heat Policy: Cinderella or Wicked Step-Mother Richard Lowes, IGov Advisory Group – 2nd May 2013 We are hugely import dependent to secure enough of it, its costs are rising and it’s relatively high carbon, yet gas is central to how we provide heat to our homes and businesses in the UK. But, this is all to change, we are told, by the Government’s grand ‘heat strategy policy statement’. At some point in the 2040s, my London flat will be connected to a district heating network which will serve all houses and businesses in London. My friends
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Article: Electricity Markets: The Search for Common Ground
Electricity Markets: The Search for Common Ground Simon Skillings (1), IGov Advisory Group - 24th April 2013 There is a lot of electricity market reform happening in Europe at the moment. There is also a lot of discussion as to whether these reforms are necessary, inadequate, or simply misguided. However, it is less clear that these discussions represent true engagement regarding a well-defined and well understood set of issues. The territory is littered with terms such as ‘market reform’, ‘market failure’, ‘central planning’, ‘the internal energy market’ and ‘capacity payments’ that are poorly defined and yet seem
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New Thinking Blog: We need policy certainty to create low carbon supply chains
We need policy certainty to create low carbon supply chains Richard Hoggett, IGov Team, 22nd April 2013 About Richard: http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/igov/people/igov-team/richard-hoggett/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/HoggettRD It can increasingly be claimed that within industrial nations, climate policy is essentially about energy policy, and the IEA’s report last week starkly brought home how much we need to do if we are going to keep to an average global temperature rise to 2°C (a level that is by no means safe). Despite rapid growth in low carbon generation, the increasing global use of coal has resulted in average unit
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Climate Change in the Classroom
Climate Change in the Classroom Tom Steward, IGov Team, 15th April, 2013 About Tom: http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/igov/people/igov-team/tom-steward/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Steward_T We all want the best for our children. Look forward but a few years and you will likely see a world that is a very different place to live – this is the legacy we leave to the next generation. I want my kids to enjoy a high quality of life, in a world free from the effects of unmitigated climate change. It seems however, that the Department of Education (DfE) is currently engaged in activities that
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Blog: Is the Climate Change Act safe?
Is the Climate Change Act safe? By Matthew Lockwood, 26 March 2013 This post first appeared on the Political Climate website So, the Daily Telegraph has called for the repeal of the 2008 Climate Change Act. A piece of legislation that Tony Blair called revolutionary and Friends of the Earth (who had campaigned for it) called ground-breaking. Our current PM, David Cameron, said that the Act would be remembered long after he’d gone (although acerbic critics might add that that date is fast approaching…). Many environmentalists saw the CCA as a key step, locking the
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New Thinking Blog: Come on Ed – time to convince us that Labour can deliver green growth
Come on Ed – time to convince us that Labour can deliver green growth Caroline Kuzemko, IGov Team, 22nd, March 2013 About Caroline: http://geography.exeter.ac.uk/staff/index.php?web_id=Caroline_Kuzemko Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarolineKuzemko It seems that the time is right for Labour to grab both the growth and the sustainable energy mantles. This is not least because it is budget week, which allows for extra Labour air-time. But it is also because of mounting evidence that our Con-Dem Government is failing both to deliver economic growth and to recognise the potential of the low carbon economy. Both Ed Miliband and Ed Balls
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New Thinking Blog: Something stirring down on the farm
Something stirring down on the farm Matthew Lockwood, IGov Team, 18th March 2013 About Matthew: http://geography.exeter.ac.uk/staff/index.php?web_id=Matthew_Lockwood Twitter: https://twitter.com/climatepolitics Out of sight of the mass of people living in towns and cities, a quiet revolution is underway in the British countryside as more and more farmers are investing in renewable energy. According to the National Farmers Union, one in five of its members had produced clean electricity from solar or wind by the end of 2012. Between 2011 and 2012 there was a 28% increase in the number of biogas plants, capable of providing both renewable electricity
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New Thinking Blog: The New Energy System is Winning the Fight for the Future
The New Energy System is Winning the Fight for the Future Catherine Mitchell, IGov Team, 11th March 2013 About Catherine: http://geography.exeter.ac.uk/staff/index.php?web_id=Catherine_Mitchell Twitter: https://twitter.com/exeterepg In the middle of 2011, Germany announced its new energy policy: the energiewende or energy transformation. This is a 40 year programme with aspirational targets along the way including for renewable energy to provide 35% of electricity and 18% of energy by 2020 rising to greater than 80% of electricity and 60% of energy by 2050; with total energy demand to be cut by 50% by 2050; total carbon emissions to be cut
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