These pages set out our wider thinking on issues relating to innovation, governance and practice for a sustainable, secure and affordable energy system.
New Thinking
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No Resource is 100% Reliable: Embracing change and capturing opportunities of the ‘new’ energy system requires a new mind set
Embracing change and capturing opportunities of the ‘new’ energy system requires a new mind set This is the Wrap-Up to No Resource is 100% Reliable Series Catherine Mitchell, IGov Team, 5th August 2015 The intention of this series is: to provide the building blocks of an alternative no-regrets energy policy to the recent retrograde environmental actions of GB Government to highlight that no resource, whether coal, gas, nuclear, interconnectors and so on, is 100% reliable and so balancing an energy system with 5%, 30% or 100% renewables is the same process as managing any other
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No resource is 100% reliable: A realistic ‘what if’ model
A realistic ‘what if’ model This is the fifth blog in the no resource is 100% reliable series Catherine Mitchell, IGov Team, 3rd August 2015 No resource is 100% reliable: a realistic ‘what if’ model This blog series has argued that GB does not currently have a credible energy policy, and that because of this a sensible response is to investigate a no-regrets energy policy based on the global realities of increasing RE investment, changing energy system costs and operation, and the difficulties of nuclear and CCS. Part of that no-regret policy is to better understand the
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No resource is 100% reliable: a 100% renewable energy system operation on no wind, no sun days
A 100% renewable energy system operation on no wind, no sun days This is the fourth blog in the no resource is 100% reliable series Catherine Mitchell, IGov Team, 31st July 2015 GB is not doing well in terms of RE deployment compared to many other European countries. In 2013, the overall percentage of electricity derived from renewable sources (international basis) was 14.9% and renewable energy as a percentage of primary energy demand was 5.2% (EC target is 15% in 2020). Electricity generation from renewable resources reached 53.7 TWh in 2013. According to (an old)
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No resource is 100% reliable: US polar vortex and energy
US polar vortex and energy This is the third blog in the no resource is 100% reliable series Catherine Mitchell, IGov Team, 30th July 2015 The USA suffered some of its coldest weather ever over a few months as a result of the polar vortex in early 2014. PJM, the nation’s largest grid operator with nearly 190,000 megawatts (MW) of power generation across 13 states in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, set 8 of its top 10 winter peak records in its history, and called the weather extreme a 1-in-10 event. MISO, the nation’s second largest grid
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No resource is 100% reliable: The Belgian nuclear winter
The Belgian nuclear winter This is the second blog in the no resource is 100% reliable series Catherine Mitchell, IGov Team, 29th July 2015 Belgium had a worrying 2014-2015 winter – known as the Belgian Nuclear Winter when 3 nuclear power plants were shut down. What lessons should we learn from that event? The key lesson to learn is that no energy system is 100% reliable. All resources (nuclear, coal, gas, renewables, hydro, demand response, storage, interconnectors) have a certain likelihood of not being entirely available or available at all on any given day. So
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No resource is 100% reliable: A No-Regret Energy Policy- reduce, flatten and flex
A No-Regret Energy Policy: Reduce, flatten and flex This is the first blog in the no resource is 100% reliable series Catherine Mitchell, IGov Team, 28th July 2015 The last few weeks has been pretty dire for those in Britain that care about moving towards a sustainable, secure and affordable energy system. GB no longer has a credible energy policy. Government support for nuclear power may lead, at best, to one or two new power plants in GB – but by when we do not know and for how much money. They are almost immaterial to
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New Thinking: What are we to do with this Government’s incredible energy policy?
What are we to do with this Government’s incredible energy policy? Catherine Mitchell, IGov Team, 27th July 2015 Energy policy has been slowly changing over the last 30 or so years: two steps forward, one step back towards sustainability. But it has changed over that time and it has become more sustainable and better for GB’s innovation record. In 1984, with the miner’s strike, we had a state owned energy industry (both gas and electricity), with almost no customer input and minimal ability for independent action, no renewable energy policy, minimal energy efficiency action or
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New Thinking: Germany’s Coal Decision
Germany’s Coal Decision: boon for incumbents or start of longer term phase out? Caroline Kuzemko, IGov Team, 24th July, 2014 About Caroline: http://geography.exeter.ac.uk/staff/index.php?web_id=Caroline_Kuzemko Germany, like many countries attempting to transform their energy sectors, has a problem with coal – hard coal and lignite together still made up just over 40% of its electricity generation mix in 2014. Globally, and in Germany, although renewables have grown impressively over the past few years, the impact on emissions has been tempered by the increased use of coal. As such, for the sake of emissions, something needs to be
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New Thinking: The CMA on governance Part 2: DECC and Ofgem
The CMA on governance Part 2: DECC and Ofgem Matthew Lockwood, IGov Team, 14 July 2015 About Matthew: http://geography.exeter.ac.uk/staff/index.php?web_id=Matthew_Lockwood Twitter: https://twitter.com/climatepolitics This is the second in a two-part post on governance issues raised in the Competition and Markets Authority energy market investigation provisional findings (full report now out) published last week. The first post focused on codes; this one is about the relationship between the government and the regulator. This is again an issue that is at the heart of the IGov project, and the CMA investigation has done everyone a great service in opening up and
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New Thinking: The CMA on governance Part 1: Codes
The CMA on governance Part 1: Codes Matthew Lockwood, IGov Team, 10 July 2015 About Matthew: http://geography.exeter.ac.uk/staff/index.php?web_id=Matthew_Lockwood Twitter: https://twitter.com/climatepolitics Not surprisingly, most of the initial reaction to Tuesday’s provisional findings by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on its energy market inquiry has focused on overcharging of sticky customers and on a ‘safeguard’ tariff as a remedy. However, buried deep at the bottom of the document are some interesting arguments about the governance of the regulatory framework for energy. One is about the transparency of regulatory decision making (especially the relationship between DECC and Ofgem) and the
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