Module B1 Study Book - the Graduate School of the Environment

- WADE: projected increase in emissions could be almost halved by
2020 as compared to a business-as-usual trajectory.
- Reduced pressures on rural landscapes,
- Reduced use of water [nearly half the fresh water used in the UK is
used by power stations]
- the most efficient model for supporting the growth of the renewable
hydrogen economy.
The economic benefits of DE
‘When a big generating unit dies, it’s like having an elephant die in your living
room. You need a second elephant, equally big, to haul the carcass away.
Those standby elephants are expensive and eat a lot. But if you had, say,
mules instead of an elephant in the first place, then it would be extremely
unlikely that a whole elephant’s worth of mules would fail at the same time.’
Amory Lovins, CEO, Rocky Mountain Institute, USA
- Can be higher capital costs per unit output, BUT:-
- No high-voltage transmission and distribution networks.
- Much less overspecification required
- Transform the economics of renewables
- Much less overspecification required
- Back-up local generation capacity loses much less in transmission
- More flexible, efficient, and cost-effective alternative: [national losses
can rise to 20% at times of peak demand];
- Some DE technologies, most clearly CHP, can ‘shave’ demand peaks,
as their energy profile closely matches energy use patterns.
According to the IEA, of the $1.35 trillion investment required by the EU
electricity sector to 2030, nearly half– $648 billion – will be for transmission
and distribution. Globally, energy policies incorporating decentralised
cogeneration, renewables and energy efficiency measures could deliver a
20% cut in overall costs, despite the inclusion of very high proportions of
102 Lecture: Britains Power System