Europe can move to low-carbon energy supply without risks

Belgian wind farm. Credit: Hans Hillewaert

Europe can move to low-carbon energy sources without risking reliable supply or increasing bills for consumers, according to a new report.

The European Climate Foundation (ECF), in collaboration with other experts including McKinsey, Imperial College London and Oxford Economics, says that cost-effective low- or zero-carbon power is feasible without relying on future technology breakthroughs.

The report, Roadmap 2050: a practical guide to a prosperous, low-carbon Europe, claims that an energy supply for Europe based largely on renewables would not suffer from reliability issues and would have little impact on the cost of producing electricity over the next 40 years.

Many of the widely held assumptions about low- or zero-carbon energy supply, such as high cost and intermittency, are outdated, says the report. Low- or zero-carbon energy supplies may require higher capital investment, for example, but have lower long-term operating costs.

The report looks at a range of scenarios with varying levels of renewables, with nuclear and fossil fuel power stations fitted with carbon capture and storage technology making up the remainder.

All the scenarios are possible, says the report, but higher levels of renewables will rely the UK and other EU member states instigating energy efficiency measures to reduce demand and supporting the development of a European electricity ‘supergrid’.

There also has to be a major investment drive for low-carbon technologies and the phasing out of high-carbon options, of course, but the potential benefits massively outweigh the challenges, says the report.

“Achieving the 80% greenhouse gas reductions target in 2050 based on zero carbon power generation in Europe is technically feasible and makes compelling economic sense,” it concludes.

For further information:
www.roadmap2050.eu/
www.europeanclimate.org/

14 April 2010

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