Posted: Aug 20, 2018 10:02 am
I quite agree. I don't see the point of this proposed nuclear plant except as a money-making exercise for a few 'brown-nosing' politicians.Macdoc wrote:You are building lots of primary sources in wind and some tide tho perhaps not solar.
I consider pursuing new nuclear at this point in time a foolish waste of money. Why your government does not is beyond me tho a case can be made if there is already a nuclear facility in place.
A key aspect of renewables is being able to store excess power which the EV batteries represent. You have the best wind power in Europe
Correct. I used the actual figures, not a projected guesswork figure which may turn out to be way off the mark. Using the actual figures allows one to make a more accurate adjustment when the 'projected' figures are realised (if everAnd you don't once mention the projected drop in vehicles....you continue to think business as usual with regards to vehicles. and it certainly will not be.
). But, changing technology, which may not even be on the horizon yet, could change all of this. 
That is only possible because London has a quite efficient public transport system - if you ignore the railways...Already London is restricting access to vehicles for a variety of reasons.
Try doing this where there is little or no public transport in place. Yes, Something must be done to reduce the pollution in 'enclosed' areas where there is little or no wind to act as a dispersant.The sale of diesel and petrol cars is to be outlawed in the UK from 2040. But only 10 days ago Oxford announced that it is set to be the first British city to ban all petrol and diesel cars and vans – from a handful of central streets by 2020, extending to the entire urban centre 10 years later. Paris will ban all non-electric cars by 2030, and is now in the habit of announcing car-free days on which drivers have to stay out of its historic heart. In the French city of Lyon, car numbers have fallen by 20% since 2005, and the authorities have their sights set on another drop of the same magnitude. London, meanwhile, has shredded the idea that rising prosperity always triggers rising car use, and seen a 25% fall in the share of journeys made by car since 1990.
That is at present. With the increasing demand of EVs, will this perceived drop be reversed in an 'all EV' future?UK electricity use falls – as rest of EU rises | Business | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... my-weath...
Jan 30, 2018 - But an analysis of official figures by campaign group Sandbag found the fall between ... Overall, electricity demand has fallen by 9% in the UK in the past seven years .
Definitely!Changing the utility industry is like steering a ship with a canoe paddle. It takes a long, long time to notice any alteration in course. But change is happening and, as usual, it is because of economics. Quartz sums it up this way: “In a world of falling electricity demand, utilities can now take billions of dollars in the transportation sector away from the fossil fuel industry. Politics, technology and economics are aligning to help them do that. ‘[Utilities] all want to eat the oil industry’s lunch,” says Max Baumhefner of the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council. “So we’re happy to show them the way to the buffet’.”
https://cleantechnica.com/2018/04/02/as ... save-them/
All these factors are going crest over the next decade
The grid itself is an endangered species as electricity production decentralizes.Today’s stories of electricity system transformation – dominated with new renewable and distributed generation and the rise of smart grids, peer-to-peer trading, battery storage and demand response programmes – are dramatic enough. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with developments. So how about a view from the future?
In the UK, consultant Arup has released its Energy systems: A view from 2035 report, which suggests that all these trends towards a smarter, decentralized energy system will continue. Electricity is (by 2035) low carbon and local, says Arup, with many consumers no longer relying on the grid; and the UK is a nation of energy (self) producers, with small-scale generation at the distribution level and ‘behind the meter’ providing nearly half the country’s generation.
Decentralized energy producers
As trade association Energy UK’s Lawrence Slade points out in his (2108) foreword to the report, these are the likely results of ‘the next few decades [being] among the most transformative the energy sector has ever seen.’ Looking to the past for the moment, Slade cites dramatic examples of change that had already taken place – carbon emissions from UK energy supply having fallen by 57% since 1990; and low carbon generation rising from 19% to 53% of total UK power in a decade.
The 2035 report continues – demand-side response and batteries are widespread in commercial and residential properties; while industrial parks, universities etc operate their own microgrids, though usually retaining a connection to the national grid.
https://www.decentralized-energy.com/ar ... uture.html
and
https://innovateuk.blog.gov.uk/2018/03/ ... of-energy/
Norway alone has enough pumped hydro to serve as the battery for all of Europe and the UK ...and those 400 kv lines are expanding.National Grid begins UK transmission link with Europe
05/04/2018 By Rod Walton
Senior Editor
https://www.elp.com/articles/2018/05/na ... urope.html
The upcoming decade is an ongoing fright night scenario for power producers in the first world nations.
Interesting times
But, I suspect at my age, I won't be around...
Edit. In the Gridwatch program, (which updates in real time every five minutes), the wind contribution is only 0.41%. So much for the UK being a very 'windy' place.