UK Decarbonisation: Legally Binding But Precarious feat. David Watson

The UK has made a legally binding commitment to net zero emissions
by 2050. Boris Johnson recently released a 10-point green plan,
which included the claim that all UK households will be powered by
wind energy by 2030. The UK Committee on Climate Change has
recommended a big expansion of wind and solar but says that up to
40% of electricity in 2050 will need to be firm, low carbon...which
means either gas or biomass with carbon capture, or else nuclear.
They've also suggested electricity demand will double from now to
2050. While today 18% of UK electricity is supplied by nuclear,
almost all of this will disappear by 2030 as the advanced gas
reactor fleet is retired this decade. Indeed, of today's
electricity generation, none will be on the grid in 2050 except
possibly Sizewell B. Gas and wind are growing to dominate the grid
with an unhealthy serving of biomass (fuelled by wood pellets
imported from the US). 120 GW each of wind and solar are being
contemplated to meet climate goals but will result in 500 sq miles
of solar farms needing to be built in the densely populated "sunny"
south of England and 24,000 5MW offshore wind turbines. The UK
enjoys bipartisan support for nuclear power but has committed to
private financing with its only new nuclear build financed with a
9% interest rate. Cost remains a serious concern. As Tim Stone,
chairman of the UK NIA, has said: "Only two numbers matter in
nuclear construction: capital cost and the cost of capital.' Some
institutional investors are resportedly shunning the proposed
Sizewell C nuclear project, citing uncertainty over environmental,
social and corporate governance concerns. However, the UK
government is now in negotiations with EDF to find a financing
model that reduces the cost of finance and leads to a better deal
for consumers. This is likely to involve more government support
than previous projects. I am joined by David Watson, a nuclear
safety engineer from the UK, to discuss this and more. David has
over 10 years' experience in consulting supporting the operation,
construction and decommissioning of nuclear power plants. He is the
Editor-in-Chief of the Generation Atomic blog recently started an
instagram channel called atomic trends, which he refers to as the
"nuclear dream factory".