Transition to a Green Economy

The closure of Britain’s last coal fired power plant this month marks a landmark in the nation’s history and a symbolic moment in the transition to a green economy.

If ever there were an image to sum up the changing of the power guard from fossil fuel to renewables it will be the last dying embers of the plant at Ratcliff-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, which will be replaced by a clean energy technology park.

Fossil Fuel Phase Out

Old King Coal powered the steam engines that put Britain in the vanguard of the Industrial Revolution and saw the world’s first coal fired power station producing electricity for public use being built in 1882 at London’s Holborn Viaduct.

With Britain’s coal supply in abundance and technology advancing, the number of coal power stations grew rapidly as did the demand for coal from steelmaking, industry and homes with consumption peaking at over 200m tonnes a year in the mid-fifties.

Demand for coal then started to fall due to the end of the steam railways, advent of North Sea gas and growing awareness of damage to health and the environment caused by burning coal.

The term “smog” was coined by a doctor on a trip to London and a combination of the freezing Winter of 1952 and an anticyclone over London trapping the resultant fumes from homes and factories in the capital led to what was known as the Great Smog. It lingered for four days, killed an estimated 4,000 people and led to the Clean Air Act of 1956 and a host of later environmental laws.

The Future of the UK’s Power Supply Lies in Clean Energy Technology

Coal power has now effectively been phased out of UK energy production and though gas and oil initially took over its crown the UK commitment to be carbon neutral power supply by 2030 means renewables, led by wind power, currently make up about 50% of the market.

With Britain on the brink of recording the first hour when the entire national grid will be powered free of fossil the goal of electricity produced permanently through renewable energy – with carbon neutral as a back-up – is now in sight. The next step is to persuade consumers to switch from using fossil fuels at home, with gas boilers being the key shift.

Heat Pump vs Gas Boiler

The previous Government was set to introduce a Clean Heat Market Mechanism (CHMM) in which manufacturers faced targets for the percentage of sales that had to be heat pumps as opposed to gas boilers, with fines issued for any shortfall.

This was scrapped amid fears manufacturers would simply increase the cost of gas boilers to consumers – up to £180 per unit – to cover these fines.

Reintroducing the Push for Heat Pumps with the Clean Heat Market Mechanism and Warm Homes Plan

Now though CHMM seems set to be re-introduced as part of the new Labour Government’s Warm Homes Plan. Precise details won’t be known until November but avoiding pricing poorer households out of clean energy will be a key aim.

It can be done. Incentives now mean that in many cases heat pumps cost less to install than a gas boiler.  The lower that price can be kept, the more homeowners will be able to afford the switch.