All-electric future could ‘double dependency’
An academic report has highlighted critical challenges in the current ‘all- electric’ approach to decarbonising the UK energy system.
The report, Building a Roadmap
for Heat, compiled by scientists at Imperial College London and the University of Surrey, concludes that the current approach to increasingly using electricity to heat buildings and power cars intensifies our dependence on the electricity system to unprecedented levels. This dependence might also risk
undermining the government’s ability to meet its own stringent 80 per cent carbon cuts by 2050, it says. In the report’s scenarios, this dependence could double the peak electricity demand in 2050 – from around 80GW to more than 150GW. To combat this problem, the
report recommends a more integrated approach, using combined heat and power (CHP), district heat networks, biomass and carbon capture and storage more widely. This would lead to a number of benefits, including:
from a DEC/EPC or A/C report; • A lack of compliance with non-commercial properties obtaining EPCs during the marketing process, and the general lack of implementation of the recommendations made in the reports, should be addressed. In particular, business rates should be partially based on the building’s asset rating, with each band being subdivided so that the most efficient buildings pay fewer rates than the least efficient within that group. Those that have implemented the recommendations will be rewarded and those that don’t will be encouraged; • Require each and every MP, regardless of party, to personally take ownership for ensuring that their constituency delivers carbon cuts equal to, at least, those of the national commitment over the five years of their tenancy. CIBSE will support MPs by preparing, with others, a guide document setting-out an action implementation plan. This would commence with establishing the
current carbon emissions of the particular constituency. The guide would be delivered and explained to the MP concerned by regional CIBSE members who would then continue to assist as required and help monitor progress; and • Commission and publish full post-occupancy evaluations (POE) (following the PROBE model) for all construction or refurbishment carried out in the government estate since the introduction of the 2006 Part L of the Building Regulations (or the national implementation of the EPBD). This information is essential for the establishment of national benchmarks and standards, for the validation of new designs and techniques, for the development of robust national policy and for the development of up-to-date and authoritative teaching materials.
The CIBSE national conference will take place on 27-28 April at the British Museum, London. Visit www.cibse.org/nationalconference
• Reduced energy losses from power generation by 8 MTOE (million tonnes of oil equivalent); • Reduced peaks in electricity demand and greater capacity to store surplus heat; • A 13 per cent reduction in electricity demand as compared to the benchmark ‘all-electric’ approach; • A 33 per cent reduction in the demand for coal-fired generation (saving 13 MTOE); and • A 30 per cent reduction in energy losses from power generation. The report was commissioned
by the Combined Heat and Power
Association. www.chpa.co.uk
www.cibsejournal.com
April 2010 CIBSE Journal
17
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