Offshore Wind and Ports – What’s the big logistical bottleneck that concerns the British as they try to build a formidable offshore wind industry? Port capacity. The good news: The UK’s Crown Estate leased nine sites offshore early this year that, if fully developed, will provide 32 GW of electricity – 25% of the UK’s needs – by 2020! The bad news: Ports lack the space and infrastructure to handle a big ramp up for outfitting these big wind farms. So, the word that money for port upgrades will be included in the new, very tight UK budget is welcome to offshore developers – and folks concerned about climate change. A big British offshore wind presence is going to help us all advance on the renewable energy front.
Severn Barrage – This ambitious attempt to harness the massive tides in the Severn Estuary has, however, taken a hit from the new budget. The Guardian reports that because the British taxpayers would bear the brunt of the costs for this project, slated to provide as much as 5% of UK electricity – and cost £30 billion (before overruns) – the government has punted. It’s a great idea, on paper, and the La Rance facility in Brittany has been cranking out 240 MW of juice at peak since the 1960s. But the British are hard pressed for cash, and sometimes reality needs to be faced.
(Maybe they’ll deploy a large array of these babies from Atlantis instead.)
Nuclear Power – Speaking of reality, even in the face of the nearly complete lack of economic reality for new nuclear power, the government is pressing on. Chris Huhne, the secretary of state for energy and climate change – and a leading member of the Liberal Democrats, a party that adamantly opposes new nuclear – is leading the charge for the coalition government. I noted here, lauding the German public for its outspoken opposition to nuclear power, that the website of the Liberal Democrats says: “More nuclear power will soak up subsidy, centralise energy production and hinder development of Britain’s vast renewable resources. Nuclear has a dirty legacy and increases global security risks. We oppose construction of further nuclear power stations.” Coalition politics really does make very strange bedfellows indeed.
Carbon Capture and Storage – Interestingly, to me anyway, the Lib Dems support CCS, but the Guardian says the government is shelling out £1 billion for its continued R&D. I think it’s a black hole, and governments are only embracing it in order to placate some powerful mining and utility interests.
(It would be great if the renewables industry had the kind of juice that the fossil fuel folks continue to exploit to their advantage. At least one solar industry leader sounded the call recently.)
