Helen Blenkharn, Climate Change Policy Officer
I regularly get asked ‘do wind turbines save carbon emissions?’
A recent report by the Committee on Climate Change looks at the UK’s carbon footprint and the lifecycle emissions from different types of electricity supply and so answers the question once and for all. Taking a lifecycle emissions approach is important – it means that the emissions not just from combustion but also from materials, production, construction, operation and decommissioning all get counted. This gives a more accurate overall picture for the different fuels and technologies than just looking at their ‘in use’ emissions.
It’s clear that low carbon technologies ‘do what they say on the tin’ - they truly result in far lower carbon pollution than fossil fuels. The Committee on Climate Change says the average carbon intensity of UK electricity supply needs to be 50gCO2/KWh by 2030. It’s currently about 500gCO2/KWh - that’s a massive challenge in just 17 years. The table shows that the amount of electricity we can afford to produce from conventional gas fired power stations is going to be very limited, and even coal with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is going to push up the average emissions significantly.
What we need is a balance of renewable energy technologies – not just those listed above but wave and tidal too, alongside gas with CCS. However, CCS is still unproven at a commercial scale which is why we’re calling on Government to invest in cracking this technology as a priority. The report also says we need to reduce the UK’s carbon footprint by 70% by 2050 if we are going to meet our climate objectives. This is a staggering amount, and it proves that climate change isn’t going to be solved by leaving it to the energy sector – it needs a huge push from all of us to make it happen.
If this blog post leaves you with one message, it’s that we can’t afford to hang around. Decisions need to be taken, and put into action, quickly to change the way we power the UK. And we all need to look at our use of energy too, as individuals. Otherwise we’re going to be looking back in 2030 and thinking why on Earth didn’t we start sooner?