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https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... l-security

Tories plan big expansion of wind farms ‘to protect national security’

Planning rules to be relaxed so that renewables and nuclear power can boost energy independence after Ukraine invasion
A massive expansion of wind farms across the UK is now needed for national security reasons, the business secretary has declared, as, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the government considers sweeping changes to planning laws to improve Britain’s energy independence.
Boris Johnson is planning to unveil a radical new “energy strategy” within a fortnight to ensure the UK can meet its domestic needs from a mix of renewables and nuclear. The war in Ukraine has brought further huge rises in global fossil fuel prices and exposed countries’ dependence on overseas supplies.
Remarkably, the need for more on- and offshore windfarms – traditionally a highly controversial subject in the Conservative party – is now being talked about within government as a matter of security, rather than a way of fighting climate change.

and about time too...
We just need some (lots) more storage now!
A

Hopefully the move to increased generation will focus attention on the storage systems also required but overall a logical decision just very sad that it’s taken a war to get them to think straight.

Globalisation is great as long as you don’t fall out with anyone upon whom you require for essentials.

Moxi

Moxi wrote: ↑Sun Mar 13, 2022 1:29 pm Hopefully the move to increased generation will focus attention on the storage systems also required but overall a logical decision just very sad that it’s taken a war to get them to think straight.

Globalisation is great as long as you don’t fall out with anyone upon whom you require for essentials.

Moxi

Agree with you there Maxi. Better not fall out with China then!

Although on second thoughts not sure if what they mostly supply can be considered as essentials or is simply nice to have consumerism.
I'll await the fallout....

There’s a lot that’s nice to have consumerism and in my mind it started with Mrs T and has been perpetuated ever since by various colours of party telling people they can have all the choices they want without price penalties. Trouble is all of the slack in the infrastructure has gone and now is the time of reckoning as things need to be replaced, remodelled or upgraded.

Coming from a generation that remembers the three day week and the whole village going to the local woods to cut up all the fallen trees for firewood I see this latest run of events being in the same vein and will be a wake up call not to take our cosy lifestyles for granted. As always other opinions are available

Moxi

There is no way the UK can rely on renewables and nuclear in the next ten years, I would say.

Energy storage is the problem - but only after all fossil fuels are reduced to zero. The wind does not always blow (often less than half a GW on a regular basis and the Sun does not shine on the UK during the night and on many other day-time periods.

To formulate a real working plan in such a short time-scale is living in cloud cuckoo land - even though much of the work may have been done already. It might offer a framework for a plan, but i doubt it will offer the answers to nationally secure energy usage in the near future.

The only good progress so far is that the politicians have actually woken up to the issues.

Well it's certainly turning in the right direction; more storage would be good, but then i feel that having more wind and solar connected will create more curtailment, which in turn will make direct storage, long range HVDC interconnectors, and the conversion of surplus-electricity to green-fuel more economically viable, thus accelerating the development/deployment of all three.

We (as in gov') need to promote home pv -reduce daytime load......... maybe re-introduce payments or just zero rated vat....
Also look at more hydro -including small local schemes -24 hr output........
Introduce decent insulation incentives..........
Maybe wave power / barriages ??
More biomass .
More wind -on and offshore.......
I would in the short term accept more coal if it gave energy independance..... but accept its a dirty fuel.....
Consider banning non energy efficient appliances -ie F rated friges/freezers .....
Tax oil and gas boilers......
Subsidise all heat pumps -air and water ........
George

George, fair comment, (there's a BUT)

If you look at the new energy efficiency stats some are a bit of a farce (there was a thread on the LED philips hue bulb) which seems to have a G?? rating all of a sudden, swap outs are ridiculous as billi put across, the difference is a couple of milliwatts

SO many stupidly large TV's bought within the past couple of years, & still on offer at the likes of Costco, the high street etc are G or lower, even though we know that if you screw design over too far underpowering can be as fatal as overpowering a unit in terms of premature failure.

I don't see many / energy ratings on Broad band routers etc...most of them are "free" when you switch providers so how efficient are they really?
We need to know the break even point on all products for hours used, miles driven etc, & make energy comparisons fair enough, but when it's the proverbial gnats whisker between trashing something & using something then its another conundrum.

We already know what sort of landfill Amazon creates, this would be far more in that direction.

Zero vat on solar e al would be a helpful start, as long as we didn't see another greasy "white gold" salesman approach to the matter (ie make "solar spivs" illegal & stamp them out rapidly)

but then i feel that having more wind and solar connected will create more curtailment

Marcus, The curtailment should not occur. The potential curtailment should be directed towards producing other energy sources/storage.

Hydrogen, while inefficient to produce, is far better than curtailment! Other options might be ammonia production, molten-chemical heat storage, more battery EVs, etc.

Every new build should have the maximum PV installed. Solar thermal should be added wherever applicable, Passivhaus Standard insulation, ground source heat pump (I remain unconvinced of air-source heat pump viability), etc, etc.