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The UK Net Zero Reasearch and Innovation Framework is a well written and clear document which is published by the UK Government. It is an essential read for anyone seeking R&D support from the government (Click Here For Details). My comments in this blog relies upon this document as a source of information for this blog.
I would like to comment on the current advantages and disadvantages of the main technologies that contribute or may contribute to the Energy Market in the UK.
Wind Power
On a windy day wind power can contribute over 100% of the electricity needed in the UK. On a calm day it contributes 0%. When there is too much wind we pay the wind generators to switch off the turbines because there is no where to store the power. When there is no wind we use very expensive gas power stations to fill the gap. The price of electricity is fixed by the highest costing electricity produced and so gas power stations producing power for just a couple of hours a day is very expensive and this high price is used to set the price for all electricity sold.
Solar Power (Photo Voltaic)
The total power generated by PV is up to 15.6 GigaWatts but in common with wind power it cannot be stored.
Solar Power (Solar Thermal)
Harvesting energy for hot water use in homes can be many times more efficient than collecting electricity and using that to heat water. Over complex collection systems have been used in the past.
Heat Pumps
These systems are expensive to install and very difficult to retrofit. They do not store energy and they take power at times when electricity is at its most expensive and is being supplied by the most expensive short term gas power stations. The need to supply electricity to an ever increasing number of heat pumps is used to justify building more gas power stations. At low temperatures (-10 Deg C), heat pumps are inefficient, without energy storage heating of homes is a major concern.
Nuclear Power
The capital cost of building and future decommissioning costs means that this type of power station should be used at a constant high working rate. This can provide a good base rate of supply but not something than can balance peaks and throughs.
Blue Hydrogen.
The use of surplus wind and PV power to electrolise water to create hydrogen and oxygen describes blue hydrogen. Hydrogen is dangerously explosive Hindenburg disaster and to distribute the gas to homes would be prohibitely expensive because hydrogen has 1/3rd the calorific value of methane. For every gas pipe in the UK you would need a second gas pipe.
Storage for use at a hydrogen fuelled power station removes cheap wind and solar power which could otherwise be stored and used at consumers homes.
Green Hydrogen in combination with Carbon Capture
This is fossil fuel industries dream solution. Burning or processing gas or oil to create hydrogen and then returning carbon dioxide to the depleted gas and oil fields will significantly increase the production of gas and oil and they will be able to pump more gas and oil from existing oil and gas fields. The UK government has agreed to pay the £22 billion cost of carbon capture and the fossil fuel companies will benefit from increased production without the cost of CC.
Energy Storage in Homes and Industry
The UK has around 30 million buildings which are collectively responsible for around 30% of total UK GHG emissions (direct and indirect). Most buildings currently rely on natural gas for heating, hot water and cooking, whilst others use electricity, oil, liquified petroleum gas (LPG) or solid fuels. To reach net zero, virtually all heat in buildings must be decarbonised by 2050. A flexible energy system is essential for integrating high volumes of low carbon power. To date, power system flexibility has largely been provided by fossil fuels, as we turn up or turn down gas fired power stations. In the future, we need an energy system that matches new and existing sources of demand to renewable generation. The technology capable providing low cost energy storage at scale in homes and industry is described in this web site (Click This Link to the Home Page to Discover More)