Powering the Future Summary Report - Parsons Brinckerhoff

Powering the Future Summary Report
Powering the Future Summary Report
Figure 8 shows the overall CO 2 reduction effects of
the options, including changes of emissions in the
electricity sector, where appropriate, compared to the
‘business as usual’ case. Electricity sector emissions
are based on indicative levels of 0.4 tCO 2 /MWh in 2020
and 0.1 tCO 2 /MWh in 2050.
Certain measures are excluded from the reference
scenario. Biomass CHP, while offering useful CO 2
reductions, is not included as there is insufficient
biomass available for the large energy demands of
industry. Electrical efficiency and conversion to gas
have only a small impact which could be considered
part of the continuous process of energy efficiency
improvement in industry.
The large process efficiency improvement required to
reduce industry sector emissions by 2050 represents
a major financial challenge to industry. Funding the
development and application of the necessary new
technologies could undermine the competitiveness of
UK industry.
While we were preparing Powering the Future, major
UK businesses voiced their concern to us that the
inadvertent costs of carbon trading and improvement
programmes could force producers offshore. This
would damage the UK economy directly by the loss of
employment and indirectly by increasing imports. The
latter would increase global CO 2 emissions through
the use of less advanced processes and international
transport – the exact reverse of the intent of such
measures.
Figure 8 Industry measures - net CO 2 reduction on sector emissions
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