Filed under: Uncategorized — Francis Irving @ 2:58 pm
Do you agree?
It’s most clearly true for some of the efficiency savings we’re going to make. For example, insulating your loft and your cavity walls saves you money in a very straightforward way.
Things are a bit more mixed for electricity generation. The Royal Academy of Engineering priced nuclear at 2.26 pence per kWh, compared to 3.64 pence for gas and 3.33 pence for coal (see Nuclear power’s cost conundrum).
However, the price of fossil fuels is a rapidly moving target, fluctuating up and down by orders of magnitude in the space of months. And you can easily increase the cost of nuclear, if you disagree with the cost of cleanup that the RAE have factored in.
The key message though, is that the costs are very comparable, it isn’t clear whether the old or the new technology will be cheaper.
The same applies to concentrating solar power. Rapid advances are still being made in these “mirrors in deserts” power stations. This post on the Climate Progress blog gives some details of the economics compared to coal.
Again, the take home message is - they are so similar in price, nobody is sure which is or will be cheaper.
On balance, my view is that with efficiency savings and with improvements as the new technologies mature, the new energy system will be cheaper than the old fossil based one. And that’s before the extra costs of energy insecurity and climate change are factored in.
The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, couldn’t have it more backwards:
The European Union’s global leadership on climate change is under threat as Germany heads a rebellion to protect industry from the extra cost of tough environmental targets. (The Telegraph)
She’s wrong for two important reasons.
1. Climate security is an economic target. Years ago the Stern Review showed this. It’s making our climate safe that will protect industry, not continuing to gamble with fossil fuels.
2. The change to a low-carbon economy will build the corporations that rule the world at the end of this century. It’s vital for European prosperity that lots of these are European. Who will own the electric car companies, and the businesses which build mirrors in the deserts?
If you agree with Serious Change, you can write to Chancellor Merkel to tell her. Your letter will help at this vital moment in negotiations.
I want electric cars to make it cheap to drive and air source heat pumps to make it cheap to keep our homes warm.
I want the deserts to be full of energy gathering mirrors, and the hills and oceans covered with wind turbines.
I want campaign groups to be less like Plane Stupid, alienating people by shutting down airports, and more like the Conservative party, campaigning for high speed rail links.
At Serious Change, we think that Britain can become zero-carbon, and we can keep our lifestyles, all the while using only current technology. Some of these existing technologies aren’t very well known yet.
Did you know these three things about electric cars?
1. Electric cars are, roughly, five times more energy efficient than petrol cars (see Without Hot Air, page 127 for details). That means that even while we’re still burning fossil fuels to make their electricity, electric cars reduce CO2 emissions and save us money. Later they can be wind and nuclear powered.
2. We can lease the batteries. Instead of thinking of them as part of the body of the car, think of them as part of the fuel. Yes, they need replacing every few years, and yes they are expensive. However, combined with the electricity, they are still cheaper than the equivalent petrol. (For details of the leasing business model, see the Better Place article below).
3. So far, three whole countries and two US states are in the process of changing to electric cars. These are Israel, Denmark, Australia, California and Hawaii. They’re giving tax breaks and partnering with a start-up called Better Place. Britain could do the same. The most inspiring introduction to Better Place is this profile of the founder.
There’s a lot more to say about electric cars another day. I’ll leave with one more thought, Electric cars are fast, like the Tesla Roadster in the photo above.
It’s most clearly true for some of the efficiency savings we’re going to make. For example, insulating your loft and your cavity walls saves you money in a very straightforward way.
The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, couldn’t have it more backwards:
or a new world?
At Serious Change, we think that Britain can become zero-carbon, and we can keep our lifestyles, all the while using only current technology. Some of these existing technologies aren’t very well known yet.