Claire Perry: ‘From power stations to solar panels, the future is local’ With over 50% of our power last year coming from low carbon sources such as offshore wind farms, a clean growth revolution is well underway, cutting carbon emissions and replacing dirty coal with clean energy. This revolution has also taken root at a smaller scale up and down the country as more homes, schools and businesses choose to generate their own electricity from solar panels, small wind turbines and hydro power. But the UK’s success in deploying low carbon generation is just the start of the transformation of our energy system with community energy a key cornerstone of government’s ambition for transition to a low-carbon, smart energy system. I have been impressed with the community energy groups I have met across the UK who are working to ensure that communities take practical steps to take control of how they generate and use energy. We are delivering a smart energy system fit for the 21st Century, that will benefit every home and business. It will allow suppliers to better understand you as a user and offer you products to help you save money; working with smart appliances in the home to hand back control of energy use, and ultimately control of your bills. Smart meters, better data, smarter networks and the right rules and incentives are necessary for this to take place. Small scale generation and battery storage can play a crucial role in cutting carbon emissions as part of this smarter energy system by reducing local demand and providing clean power into the grid when it is needed. This will help avoid costly future connection costs for communities as power consumption grows with electric vehicle uptake and a growth in electric heating.
Energy Live News 8th Jan 2019 read more »
