日英WEBセミナー、反省点

先日実施したWEBベースの日英セミナーの一齣です。全体時間の割に発表者が多く、通信上の不具合も発生しました。しかし、初めての試みとして考えれば、合格点だと思えます。

情報収集のために参加した人が多かったようで、質問が少なかったのが残念でした。日本で開催されるセミナーでありがちな風景でした。折角、日英で行っているので、残念でした。

海外と何かする時には、英語レベルの問題はありますが、何か発信すべきではないでしょうか？！

これは不味いなと思い、英国などで起きているエネルギー危機について質問してみました。脱炭素のための風力や太陽光といっても、どこまで信頼性があるのか疑問ですね。

(Q) To promote decarbonization, a shift from coal to natural gas is underway,  With the resumption of economic activities after COVID 19, demand for energy has increased.

"In northern Europe and the UK these days, there is no wind and wind power is not functioning. They cannot use energy supplied by wind power nor warm themselves despite the harsh winter has already come. It is an energy crisis.

Investment in fossil fuels has been held back. The price of the natural gas has skyrocketed due to the supply-demand balance. Along with this the price of coal has soared.

 Power companies in the U.K. reportedly has returned to coal, which is relatively cheap and stable.

 The situation is like this. Renewable energy such as wind power is being backed up by fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas. Will this situation improve in the future, or will the backup continue? What is your confidence level for renewables being a prevailing energy source in the future?

(A) Your question highlighted one of the major challenges of moving to Net Zero – ensuring stability of the electricity grid.  The chart below shows the electricity element of the UK Climate Change Committee’s central pathway (The Balanced Net Zero Pathway).  

It highlights how unabated fossil fuel electricity is responsible for most of the balancing capacity at the moment.  By 2050, this will be provided by a combination of gas with CCS, hydrogen and BECCS (Bioenergy with CCS).  Demand management will also have a significant role to play.  There are lots of technical challenges to be overcome to make this feasible.