Energy 2050

To reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050, the United Kingdom has to transform the way that energy is supplied and used. It also needs to secure energy provision for natural gas and the reliability of electricity supply. This book looks at the factors which could help or hinder achieving the UK's climate change targets and how these factors interact with maintaining a secure energy system. The book is the result of a major national energy research effort by the UK Energy Research Centre and is essential reading for policymakers, professionals, researchers and anyone concerned with achieving large-scale reductions in carbon emissions. The book begins by exploring the evolution of the UK energy system over recent decades and then moves on to changes in energy policy to emphasise decarbonisation. Later chapters explore different aspects of the uncertainties that may enable or constrain the creation of a low-carbon, resilient UK energy system, related to accelerated technology development, the creation of an infrastructure to support de-centralised energy and microgeneration, to lifestyle and behaviour change, and to public attitudes to wider environmental impacts associated with energy system change.