Renewables do add up

We've done the sums, and renewable sources could supply all of our energy. But we've got to make the commitment, and fast

Alex Randall
guardian.co.uk,
Thursday September 18 2008 17:32 BST

"I can't do the sums any way without having a slice of nuclear power in the mix. It doesn't work. I ask my enthusiastic green friends if they'll do the sums – and they can't" said Professor Ian Fells on Radio 4's Today programme yesterday. As a stalwart member of the nuclear lobby it's unlikely Fells has many green friends. Last year we did the sums and found that through a radical rethink of how we use energy and massive investment in renewables, the UK could meet its energy needs without fossil fuels or nuclear. "The sums", as Professor Fells calls them are contained in our report, Zero Carbon Britain.
Fells' comments coincide with the release of his report, A Pragmatic Energy Policy for the UK. The report claims that without a nuclear revival and investment in coal the UK will face an "energy gap" within the next decade. The report also states that renewables have a role to play, but the hope that they could provide large amounts of energy is "wishful thinking" and demonstrates a "staggering lack of understanding of the technical and engineering reality of what can be built".
Zero Carbon Britain provides exactly the "technical and engineering reality" that Professor Fells claims is missing.
The report models current UK energy demands across all sectors of the economy and assesses the potential for different renewable sources to replace fossil fuel and nuclear generation. This isn't wishful thinking; we've carefully modelled exactly where and when we use energy, and how we could replace current generation with renewables. The scenario uses a broad spread of different sources – onshore and offshore wind, solar, small-scale hydro and tidal power. It's true that the sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow. But we've mapped the UK for renewable energy potential and found that by distributing the generation around the country, using storage and managing our energy use intelligently we can even out the ups and downs in supply and demand.
Energy saving is crucial. The scenario requires us to reduce ourenergy use by almost half. This won't mean a few energy saving lightbulbs and washing your clothes at 30C. It means big changes in our energy infrastructure – switching to electric cars and public transport, serious investment to insulate our existing buildings, and rethinking how we use energy to deliver our wellbeing.
The combined threats of energy security and climate change mean that these changes need to happen quickly. The latest climate science suggests that we need to make reductions in greenhouse gases much faster than government targets – faster even than most campaigners and NGOs are calling for. If we want to avoid seriously destabilising the climate we've got roughly 20 years to reduce our emissions to zero. Zero Carbon Britain proves that this is technically possible. Because the timescale is so short this energy scenario only uses technology that is developed and ready to go. The urgency of the situation means we need to invest our limited resources in technologies we know are going to deliver within this 20 year timeframe.
At the Centre for Alternative Technology we produce all our electricity from our own renewable sources. I'd say we are pretty in touch with "technical and engineering reality". We know what works and what doesn't. We've been building, installing and living with these technologies for 35 years. Zero Carbon Britain shows that the UK can achieve energy security without fossil fuels and nuclear power. If Fells wants some new "enthusiastic green friends" to do the sums for him, he should come and visit.