Britain's energy crisis is not far from over - it is about to begin.
Unless, that is, we stop the headlong rush to what you called 'renewables'... but 'renewables' is a misnomer. Better call them what they are: "polluting intermittents".
One thing that these polluting intermittents are not, is 'clean'. Blighting the countryside with huge concrete blocks, burying old wind farms and solar panels in landfill and chopping up birds in flight is not 'clean'. As you point out, to carry out the current administration's intentions (I'm not going to call them 'plans') we'll need the backup power stations (that could be our primary) anyway during Dunkelflaute conditions.
The Laleham Policy Unit has mapped out the impossibility of the task of implementing this grand folly of electrification by 2050:
And it is not as if this gargantuan capital cost will result in cheaper power. The grand electrification folly would result in an approximately 5 x increase in electricity usage (replacing the use of efficient and cheap gas boilers in homes and industry), and using electricity for heating - even with more efficient heat pumps, which will only work in a small sub-section of situations - and we will need full 'dispatchable' backup power (e.g. gas or coal) that can be switched when wind power is not working. Batteries will not help, as the whole point is that Dunkelflaute can last for weeks. However big the battery installations, if there is nothing to charge them with, they can only help reduce peak load (perhaps our future nuclear fleet will be able to charge them at night).
The 'Net Zero' project should be called what it is: "Wallace & Gromit & The Grand Electrification Folly".
It truly is a Grand Madness. Make it stop. The alternative is very straightford, as outline by the Laleham Policy Unit above: add reliable dispatchable power (gas and coal), build stockpiles of coal when prices are low and invest now in the nuclear fleet.
PS. While we are at it, please stop thinking of solar as being a meaningful part of our energy mix at these northern latitudes. All it does is create a parasite on the grid. It produces lots of energy when it is not needed, and none when it is needed. Hot countries might want to consider solar to offset air conditioning demand.
Britain's energy crisis is not far from over - it is about to begin.
Unless, that is, we stop the headlong rush to what you called 'renewables'... but 'renewables' is a misnomer. Better call them what they are: "polluting intermittents".
One thing that these polluting intermittents are not, is 'clean'. Blighting the countryside with huge concrete blocks, burying old wind farms and solar panels in landfill and chopping up birds in flight is not 'clean'. As you point out, to carry out the current administration's intentions (I'm not going to call them 'plans') we'll need the backup power stations (that could be our primary) anyway during Dunkelflaute conditions.
The Laleham Policy Unit has mapped out the impossibility of the task of implementing this grand folly of electrification by 2050:
https://sites.google.com/view/the-lpf/home
And it is not as if this gargantuan capital cost will result in cheaper power. The grand electrification folly would result in an approximately 5 x increase in electricity usage (replacing the use of efficient and cheap gas boilers in homes and industry), and using electricity for heating - even with more efficient heat pumps, which will only work in a small sub-section of situations - and we will need full 'dispatchable' backup power (e.g. gas or coal) that can be switched when wind power is not working. Batteries will not help, as the whole point is that Dunkelflaute can last for weeks. However big the battery installations, if there is nothing to charge them with, they can only help reduce peak load (perhaps our future nuclear fleet will be able to charge them at night).
The 'Net Zero' project should be called what it is: "Wallace & Gromit & The Grand Electrification Folly".
It truly is a Grand Madness. Make it stop. The alternative is very straightford, as outline by the Laleham Policy Unit above: add reliable dispatchable power (gas and coal), build stockpiles of coal when prices are low and invest now in the nuclear fleet.
PS. While we are at it, please stop thinking of solar as being a meaningful part of our energy mix at these northern latitudes. All it does is create a parasite on the grid. It produces lots of energy when it is not needed, and none when it is needed. Hot countries might want to consider solar to offset air conditioning demand.