UK Government Energy Projections
The UK Government’s energy projections to 2040 show a steep rise in electricity needs as countless items are switched to electric power.
The projection assumes that we will be unable to build enough renewable energy sources to meet this demand. In any case the main renewable generators vary in output, day, and night, and season by season and there are not enough energy storage technologies as yet to deal with this variability.
So, fossil fuel burning, with CCS will be a significant component for the next 20 years at least. Indeed, there is a blip and bottom right of the graphic which is coal with CCS!
There are 2 white knights!
One is hydrogen which could reduce the demand for electricity and store renewable energy for later use.
The second is SMRs (Small Modular Reactors) small nuclear power generators which could start to produce some of the base load in local locations in another 2 or 3 years.
