Module B1 Study Book - the Graduate School of the Environment

tell exactly which day we will get it. But with intelligent load management and
some fossil fuels to fill the gaps we can make it work.
But no one is promising that we can just plug into renewables and seamlessly
slip into an ambient-energy paradise. If we were to try switching to ambient
whilst still running at our current, obese demand levels the grid would quickly
stall. We must first powerdown, so vastly reducing the level of demand. R&D
funding must be increased as a matter of urgency. As fossil fuels prices go
through the ceiling, any technically mature renewables will become cost
competitive very quickly. In fact the fastest growing energy technology in the
world is grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV), which grew by 60 percent a
year between 2000 and 2004. Second is wind power capacity, which grew
by 28 percent.
New Nuclear Power? - A decision too expensive to meter!
Despite original claims that it would be too cheap to meter, the real cost
of a decision to go back down the nuclear road will prove very expensive,
perhaps too expensive to calculate. The first cost of new nuclear is the price
of not facing up to our oil and gas addiction. Britain is ‘energy obese’: we
use far more energy than is actually required to deliver our wellbeing. Too
many years of abundant cheap fossil fuels have led us into very wasteful
practices. Using energy more efficiently is absolutely essential and must
form the cornerstone of any proposed solution. A massive “energy re-think”
programme, such as super-insulating every home in Britain or re-localising
food production will not only save us money in real terms, but will strengthen
local economies, create new products, and generate employment.
The second cost of new nuclear is the opportunity cost, what else it will
prevent us from doing: a badly thought-out decision at this stage may well
come back to haunt us. Since the 1960s the lion’s share of energy research
funding has been taken up by the nuclear industry. Although renewables
have made significant advances over the last ten years, the move beyond
on-shore wind to off-shore marine technologies urgently needs a reliable and
realistic level of investment. Britain’s current offshore oil and gas are now in
decline. What is needed is a conversion plan to switch skills and employment
to offshore renewables.
The third cost of new nuclear is the hidden cost. There are huge
environmental and social costs that are only now coming home to roost.
Nuclear decommissioning liabilities from the past 30 years are estimated to
be around 70 billion pounds. For any new programme, the full cost of plant
decommissioning and safe transport and storage of waste materials must
be taken into account in the cost of electricity paid for by the customer. If we
then add the military and civil cost of protecting each gram of fissile material,
the true cost of new nuclear looks prohibitive.
Yet another cost of new nuclear will be the human cost. The ‘post 9/11 world’
is a very changed place and our energy strategy must reflect this change.
Nuclear generators, enrichment, storage and reprocessing plants make the
Lecture: Energy futures 17