Memorandum 21
Submission from the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers (IMechE)
INTRODUCTION
1. The Institution of Mechanical Engineers
(IMechE) is a professional body representing over 78,000 professional
engineers in the UK and overseas. Our membership is involved in
all aspects of energy supply, conversion and use. They operate
in the automotive, rail and aerospace industries, in construction
and building services, in renewable energy, fossil-fuel derived
power generation and nuclear power, and in the over-arching field
of sustainable development. As a Learned Society, our role is
to be a source of considered, balanced, impartial information
and advice.
GENERAL COMMENTS
2.1 As IMechE said in its initial response
to the Energy White Paper, the over-riding priority and objective
for UK energy policy must be to engage fully and with some urgency
in the battle against climate change, through the rapid development
and widespread deployment of secure, sustainable, low carbon solutions
across the whole energy field, based on a stable, long-term framework
and carbon-pricing signals.
2.2 IMechE believes the Energy Hierarchy
provides the most appropriate framework for a truly sustainable,
coherent energy policy. It gives priority to demand-side energy
conservation and efficiency measures and the development of low
carbon, sustainable supply-side measures. It is in the demand-side
that the bulk of the opportunities to move quickly and effectively
towards a low carbon, secure and sustainable energy future are
to be found.
2.3 As it is impossible to eliminate all
demand for energy, the only sensible approach to energy supply
is to have a diverse and balanced portfolio of energy sources.
The future energy mix should include all sources of renewable
power and heat, combined heat and power (CHP), nuclear, coal with
carbon capture and storage, oil and gas. There is no magic bullet
in energy and climate change.
2.4 It is clear that many low carbon technologies
already exist or can be developed, for heat, power and transport.
Government must provide a fair and stable framework that allows
each and every one of them to realize their potential. IMechE
therefore welcome the Science and Technology Committee's inquiry
as a timely contribution to the development of this framework.
2.5 Renewable energy generation is a high-technology
sector. It is crucial to many of the Government's strategic priorities,
not just the battle against climate change. Indeed, it is crucial
to achieving sustainable development, energy security, and the
emergence of a competitive, environmentally benign, knowledge-based
economy. While many renewable technologies exist, their deployment
in the UK has been significantly hampered by a variety of factors,
not least planning and grid connection issues, but also inconsistent
and inadequate Government policy measures. The climate change
imperative, and now the binding EU targets for the sector, dictate
that support policies right across the innovation chain, from
R&D through demonstration to full-scale deployment, must be
developed and implemented quickly. The UK is blessed with an abundance
of renewable energy resources; it now needs the political leadership
to make the very best use of them.
RESPONSES TO
SPECIFIC POINTS
The current state of UK research and development
in, and the deployment of, renewable energy-generation technologies
including: offshore wind; photovoltaics; hydrogen and fuel cell
technologies; wave; tidal; bioenergy; ground source heat pumps:
and intelligent grid management and energy storage
3.1 Offshore Wind: While there has
been a recent increase in the deployment of offshore wind farms,
significant barriers still remain. Recent Government announcements
on planning and the introduction of a 1.5 ROCs per MWh support
level within the Renewables Obligation (RO) will help considerably.
R&D support should focus on cost reduction, turbine design,
deep-sea operations and reliability, access and maintenance issues.
3.2 Photovoltaics: PV has significant
long-term potential, but has so far achieved very low levels of
penetration into UK markets, largely because of its high cost
and perceptions of its ineffectiveness in the UK's often cloudy
weather. While it can find applications in certain niche markets,
it remains a long way from large-scale viability and the focus
for government support should therefore be in R&D. Priority
issues include cost reduction, cell materials, efficiency improvements
and building integration concepts.
3.3 Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies:
This is another sector in need of substantial R&D support
to realise any potential for large-scale application. Issues include
low carbon hydrogen production, its effective storage and distribution,
and fuel cell cost reductions and efficiency improvements.
3.4 Wave: Wave energy is much nearer
to full-scale viability than PV or hydrogen-based technologies,
but it will need both government and industry support to get it
from small-scale prototype through to large-scale demonstration.
The introduction of a 2 ROCs per MWh band for wave energy in the
RO is welcome, but will not be sufficient on its own to bring
forward large-scale demonstration schemes.
3.5 Tidal: There are two basic types
of tidal energy generation: barrages and tidal stream. Barrages
are relatively mature technologies, with very limited application
in terms of suitable sites. They do, however, have the potential
to deliver very large quantities of energy. The Severn Barrage
is one such scheme that has been gaining support over recent years,
along with other schemes to exploit the tidal characteristics
of the Severn Estuary. The Government should support the development
of detailed plans and complete timely assessments of their economic,
environmental and social impacts. Tidal stream devices are at
a similar stage of development to wave energy devices, and merit
similar support measures. As with wave energy, the 2 ROCs per
MWh banding for tidal stream devices will not be sufficient on
its own to bring forward large-scale demonstration schemes.
3.6 Bioenergy: This covers a wide
range of materials, technologies and applications, but there are
some generic issues relevant to most or all bioenergy schemes
which we describe here. The first is maximising the availability
of biomass (including in "waste" streams) for energy
production, not just in terms of growing and using more, but also
in developing new crop species. The second is the optimisation
of conversion processes and technologies. Finally, there is a
need to properly integrate crop production and biomass use with
sustainability issues, and within the overall energy system, for
example, to exploit fully the opportunities for combined heat
and power. Existing Government support measures (largely support
for co-firing) have done little to develop indigenous supply chains
or conversion technologies. The banding of various bioenergy technologies
in the RO, the introduction of the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation
and the encouragement for Energy from Waste schemes in the Waste
Strategy for England are all welcome steps in the right direction.
3.7 Ground Source Heat Pumps: These
(along with air and water source heat pumps) are generally mature
technologies that have been deployed in significant quantities
overseas, but not in the UK as yet. Installation costs, lack of
awareness and lack of available land provide probably the greatest
barriers. The main market for heat pumps should be in new build
developments, where installation costs can be effectively minimised
and systems sized appropriately. There is scope for greater public
sector support, through the micro-generation strategy, the development
of a strategy for sustainable heat and in the procurement and
regulation of housing developments.
3.8 Intelligent Grid Management and Energy
Storage: Aside from the well-established pumped storage used
alongside large-scale hydro power schemes, (electrical) energy
storage is not widely used. It has enormous potential, however,
not just to smooth out supply peaks and troughs from intermittent
renewables such as wind energy, but also to transform our electricity
supply infrastructure from the current highly inefficient system
based on peak demand to a far more efficient one based on average
demand. A variety of different technologies have potential and
some have even got near to commercial exploitation (eg the Regenysys
system). The potential benefits merit significantly higher priority
being given to R&D funding in this area. Grid management also
needs to be studied and improved, to better integrate distributed
and embedded generators, to better cope with intermittent supply
sources and to explore new and effective demand-side measures
to help provide security of supply.
The feasibility, costs, timescales and progress
in commercialising renewable technologies as well as their reliability
and associated carbon footprints
4.1 In the near-term, offshore wind and
bioenergy (particularly energy from biomass waste) are likely
to be the most commercially attractive large-scale options, supported
by the banded RO. Actions to address planning and grid connection
issues, and much greater incentives for combined heat and power
schemes for biomass, could also make significant contributions.
Ground source heat pumps could also become much more common place
over the next decade or so, through measures such as the Code
for Sustainable Homes (and a wider Code for Sustainable Buildings)
and Building Regulations.
4.2 Wave and tidal energy technologies have
significant potential for large-scale deployment in the period
2015-25, but will need support over and above the RO banding and
the modest levels of existing R&D funding. This period is
also relevant to intelligent grid management and, possibly, energy
storage.
4.3 Photovoltaics and hydrogen/fuel-cell
technologies are unlikely to achieve large-scale deployment much
before 2025. In the shorter term, they merit targeted R&D
funding to address the issues relevant to them (described above).
4.4 Not all renewable technologies are sustainable,
and not all are necessarily very low carbon. Wind, wave and tidal
energy schemes are likely to have the lowest carbon footprint
and be most sustainable. Bioenergy has a slightly higher carbon
impact, mainly through the fossil fuels used in growing and transporting
the crops, and needs to be managed carefully to ensure it meets
sustainability criteria by, for example, not being produced at
the expense of tropical forests. Ground source heat pumps have
a potentially very low carbon impact, if the electricity used
to run the pump is from low carbon sources. Hydrogen's carbon
footprint depends on where it comes from and, if it comes from
fossil fuels, whether the carbon is captured and stored as part
of the production process. PV currently has quite a high carbon
impact (by renewables standards) due mainly to extraction of silicon
and the complicated and energy-intensive manufacturing process.
The UK Government's role in funding research and
development for renewable energy-generation technologies and providing
incentives for technology transfer and industrial research and
development
5.1 There is an overwhelming case for direct
Government support for renewable technology development and innovation.
As well as stimulating new business opportunities and social benefits,
such support has many other benefits, including the development
of skills, capacity and collaborative networks. It can also encourage
and leverage private-sector investment in R&D.
5.2 Over recent decades, UK investment in
energy sector R&D has been weak. We have fallen behind many
other nations in bringing new technologies to market, and our
capacity to exploit R&D carried out here or elsewhere has
been diminished. While we welcome the recent increases in public
R&D funding in the energy sector, and the establishment of
the UK Energy Research Centre, the amounts being spent still do
not adequately reflect the scale or urgency of the climate change
challenge, nor the many potential opportunities for UK plc.
Other possible technologies for renewable energy-generation
6.1 There are a wide range of new and emerging
renewable technologies, not all of which have been mentioned above.
Of probably greatest relevance to the UK is Solar Thermal (for
heating and cooling). Similar in many ways to Ground Source Heat
Pumps, in being well established elsewhere but having not, as
yet, achieved significant penetration in to UK markets, solar
thermal has tremendous potential in both new build and, crucially,
in refurbishment of existing buildings. Barriers at present include
the high up-front installation costs and, like PV, misplaced perceptions
that solar energy technologies are not effective under UK weather
conditions. To realise the potential, and contribute significantly
to the 2020 renewable energy targets, support is needed to develop
markets and supply chains (eg through Building Regulations, the
Code for Sustainable Homes, the micro-generation strategy, public
procurement, a sustainable heat strategy, and householder grants
and fiscal incentives) and for R&D to improve efficiencies
and reduce costs.
July 2007
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