Community Energy Literature Review

In July 2022 the BBC’s business editor outlined plans for the biggest upgrade of the UK’s electricity network in sixty years (Jack, 2022). The expansion would allow an increase in the number of onshore and offshore wind turbines from 11,000, producing “nearly a quarter of the UK's electricity”, to a 2030 total which the National Grid electricity system operator believed would “deliver 50GW of offshore wind power … a third of the UK's electricity demand”. The £54bn project was not without opposition, for example to the building of a 110-mile line of 50m high pylons across East Anglian countryside. In May 2023 National Grid issued a press release setting out its case for the reforms needed to drive the energy transition, the “priority actions to ensure the networks can play their full role in achieving net zero” ( National Grid, 2023a). The five priorities are reform of the planning system, centred around a strategic clean energy vision; ensuring that the regulatory and governa...

A straightforward view of the importance of narrative in relation to climate change is made by Rosenberg, 2023, who refers to the dangers posed by human-induced climate change, and states that “Communicating this issue beyond the scientific community is a complex and difficult endeavor. Climate change is unfolding on a time scale that is difficult for humans to grasp and comprehend.” She claims that “Storytelling has the power to invoke emotions, increase knowledge, and inspire action” and outlines a project that will “create a bridge that connects people to the world of climate change science and those who dedicate themselves to its pursuit.” In his additional chapters to ‘Orality and Literacy’ (Ong, 2013) John Hartley touches on general aspects of the power of narrative and its medium. He touches on the abstraction of writing and print from the immediacy of speech, the formation of the modern mind “in the crucible of language”, the determination of mind by medium, the soft power of...

    On 13 June the successful launch of the HOTSAT-1 satellite was reported by the SatVu company (SatVu, 2023a). It was described as the first of eight planned satellites which because of their “unique thermal imaging capabilities” would provide a “valuable and unique insight into economic activity and energy efficiency for a range of industries aligning with global Net Zero goals.” During February of the previous year Alex Conacher (2022) wrote that “British satellite company Satellite Vu has signed a deal with SpaceX to launch its satellites into low earth orbit in early 2023. The company’s satellites collect thermal data of the built and natural environment and are capable of measuring the heat signature of a building several times per day.” Prior to the launch SatVu explained that the “pioneering space technology” had already been deployed in a UK test flight which showed its potential to map heat loss from houses, identifying “buildings most in need of retrofittin...

A recent document described UK policy on the use of artificial intelligence in the reduction of carbon emissions ( BEIS, 2022). This involves co-funding a ‘virtual centre of excellence on AI innovation and decarbonisation’ and funding projects ‘which further the development of AI technologies to support decarbonisation’. Comment on the document noted the increasing use of AI tools to ‘solve some of society’s current and future challenges’, and referred to the UK’s National AI Strategy. It also noted that while ‘AI has great potential, it can also cause harm’, and referenced the ‘AI Bill of Rights’ proposed for the USA (E&T, 2022). The two themes of UK AI strategy and global concern over the use of AI will be developed below. The UK’s National AI Strategy outlined a ‘ten-year plan to make Britain a global AI superpower’ and foresaw a profound impact by AI on the UK and the wider world during that period (BEIS 2021). The document referred to earlier initiatives such as the 2017 Indu...

The Green Savings Bonds issued by National Savings and Investments (NS&I) have been newsworthy recently because the interest offered to purchasers reached its highest ever level at 4.2% fixed for three years. Collier (2023) explains that the funds raised from UK savers will be used to help the Government hit its net-zero carbon emissions target by 2050. Writing in This is Money , Magnus (2023) provides some background to current interest in the bonds. “Since the first issue of the green bonds was launched in October 2021 paying just 0.65 per cent, only £300million of a £15billion target has been achieved.” In view of the low initial interest rates the reluctance to invest was perhaps unsurprising. The latest rate rise makes the bonds competitive with a number of other options, and they are seen as a secure investment. According to NS&I (2023), “All money invested in NS&I is passed onto HM Treasury and contributes towards government spending. Money invested in Green Savi...

Electricity digitalisation and smart energy systems in the UK were the subjects of a recent Westminster Forum webinar. This post will explore ideas relating to digitalisation, why it is necessary, and how it might be accomplished. Background is provided by a 2017 report for decision makers in government and industry from the International Energy Agency which “examines the impact of digital technologies on energy demand sectors, looks at how energy suppliers can use digital tools to improve operations, and explores the transformational potential of digitalisation to help create a highly interconnected energy system” (IEA, 2017). Digital technologies are seen as having the potential to make energy systems worldwide “more connected, intelligent, efficient, reliable and sustainable” and to identify “who needs energy and deliver it at the right time, in the right place and at the lowest cost”, but they also raise new security and privacy risks, and challenge existing business models. There ...