Memorandum submitted by the Royal Society
of Chemistry
The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) welcomes
the opportunity to comment on the Government draft National Policy
Statements for Energy Infrastructure.
The RSC is the largest organisation in Europe
for advancing the chemical sciences. Supported by a network of
46,000 members worldwide and an internationally acclaimed
publishing business, our activities span education and training,
conferences and science policy, and the promotion of the chemical
sciences to the public.
This document represents the views of the RSC. The
RSC's Royal Charter obliges it to serve the public interest by
acting in an independent advisory capacity, and we would therefore
be very happy for this submission to be put into the public domain.
The document has been written from the perspective
of the Royal Society of Chemistry and consequently our comments
relate to only parts of the consultation document relevant to
the chemical sciences.
1. Do you think that the Government should
formally approve ("designate") the draft Overarching
Energy National Policy Statement?
Last year, following an extensive consultation
with a global network of scientists, the RSC published Chemistry
for Tomorrow's World, where energy was identified as key area
where chemists will help to provide solutions to allow us to move
to a more sustainable economy. Efficiency maximisation and environmental
damage limitation are important goals that should inform the UK's
energy future. However, in addition, the Royal Society of Chemistry
(RSC) also supports the view that a balanced portfolio of energy
supply technologies will be required for the ongoing prosperity
of the UK. Infrastructure that will support the current energy
systems and allow for the necessary technological developments,
is an important factor in the delivery of advancing the energy
systems in the UK.
Energy production and use is clearly a major
component of the generation of greenhouse gas emissions. The RSC
is supportive of the Climate Change Act that was introduced in
2008 making law a reduction in Kyoto green house gas emissions
in the UK of at least 80% by 2050, and reductions in CO2 of
26% by 2020 against a 1990 baseline. The resulting "UK
Low Carbon Transition Plan: National Strategy for Climate and
Energy" and National Policy Statements for Energy have also
been received with interest, as chemistry and science will play
a major part in the implementation of this strategy.
The RSC encourages the advancement of a variety
of energy systems in the UK to provide a stable and environmentally
sound source of energy to the nation. Developments in the energy
infrastructure and in energy storage are necessary to realise
the potential of renewable energy alongside fossil fuels with
carbon storage technologies and nuclear energy.
ENERGY SYSTEM
INFRASTRUCTURE AND
STORAGE
As society moves towards using renewable energy
technologies for electricity generation, there will be a need
to tackle changes in the energy system infrastructure to balance
energy production from a variety of sources and geographical locations.
Decentralised energy systems associated with renewable energy
sources present a different set of infrastructure challenges and
opportunities to the current, more centralised systems. Investment
into advanced energy storage technologies will be necessary (eg
advanced batteries, electro-chemical storage, super-capacitors),
which will present significant opportunities and challenges for
chemists. Such storage systems need to be resilient, as they will
be important in tackling the intermittency of renewable energy
sources and potential changes to electricity transmission and
distribution. In addition, low carbon energy vectors will be required
for the transport and storage of energy; hydrogen is offering
a promising prospect in this respect.
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Energy generated from renewable resources will
be fundamental in ensuring a secure and continuous energy supply
whilst minimising CO2 emissions and environmental impact.
The UK will need to use a variety of renewable energy resources
to meet its target of producing 20% of renewable electricity by
2020.
The RSC published a major inquiry into Chemical
Science Priorities for Sustainable Energy Solutions in 2005,[268]
this report aimed to develop an outlook for chemical science research
in the context of energy. It was also intended to provide guidance
to funding bodies and policy makers on: the pivotal role that
the chemical sciences will play in the transformations needed
to achieve a sustainable energy system; and the priority areas
that need to be supported to advance the fundamental knowledge
necessary to address the key challenges in the energy system.
Some of these resources have been considered in the draft NPS
such as biomass and wind power.
Regarding biomass to generate electricity, the
RSC believes that there is considerable potential for developing
the use of second generation energy crops such as the grass miscanthus,
short rotation coppice (SRC) willow and poplar. These have been
shown to reduce carbon emissions significantly when compared with
both fossil fuels and first generation crops, and that energy
production is the most efficient usage (rather than the production
of liquid transport fuels).[269]
Additionally if biomass power plants were fitted with carbon capture
and storage technology, this would be a method to lower overall
atmospheric CO2 levels.
For every fuel type and utilisation process,
it is essential that a full life cycle analysis (LCA) is conducted.
This involves measuring all energy and chemical inputs and outputs
for the entire process. However, these are meaningless without
official standards regarding the factors to be included and assumptions
made. It is essential for a European standard to be set if biomass
is to be utilised efficiently. Also taken into account should
be the environmental impact of growing these crops on native wildlife,
soil condition, water sources and the competition with food crops.
In addition to supporting those renewable resources
outlined in the draft NPS, the RSC also believes that there is
a considerable role in the UK for solar power as a proven and
efficient technology. The conversion of sunlight into electricity
can be achieved through photovoltaic devices, which directly convert
sunlight into electrical current or by utilising solar-thermal
systems where energy from the sun is focused to heat water into
steam which drives a turbine.
FOSSIL FUELS
AND CARBON
STORAGE
The RSC believes that due to increasing energy
demand and supply security, fossil fuels are likely to remain
part of the UK energy portfolio for the next 50 years.[270]2 In
order to mitigate climate change, we must reduce CO2 emissions
by using Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies. The RSC
recognises, that under current economic conditions, industry is
unlikely to invest in CCS technologies without strong government
leadership or support. We believe it essential that any new plants
are built "capture ready" so that CCS technology can
be added in the future. Conversely it is vital that CCS technologies
are designed that can be retrofitted to existing power plants.
It is important to appreciate that carbon storage
poses social as well as technological challenges; it cannot be
assumed that storing huge quantities of CO2 in the Earth
is publicly acceptable. Therefore, alongside research and development
there must also be a programme of stakeholder engagement and education
to ensure that the risks and benefits are fully explored.
From the perspective of the chemical sciences,
an alternative to long-term storage is developing uses for captured
CO2 as a potential feedstock for the manufacture of useful
chemicals, fuels and polymers. There are considerable scientific
and economic challenges to be overcome in this area before such
processes are feasible on a large scale, but it is important to
note that this research offers a genuine use of CO2 rather
than a storage option.
NUCLEAR ENERGY
As a low-carbon technology that can help mitigate
climate change, it is the RSCs view that nuclear power should
remain part of the energy mix, at least until other renewable
low carbon sources provide sufficient electricity to meet the
country's needs and emission targets. Despite high construction
costs, nuclear power is cheap compared to other low-carbon electricity
generation technologies as the operational costs of nuclear power
plants are very low, and their operational life long. Nuclear
energy production involves various aspects of chemical research
and chemists will make their contribution to the safe utilisation
of nuclear energy.
An inevitable consequence of nuclear fission
power is its legacy of long-lived radioactive waste. There needs
to be a commitment to research and development into the long term
safety of geological disposal, as well as improved methods and
means of storing waste. In terms of long term storage, the RSC
believes that a geological depository for the storage of high-level
radioactive waste is vital, and offers a lower level risk than
surface storage. The position of new storage sites must be met
with approval from local communities and undergo public consultation.
The RSC recognise that scientific and technical
expertise of the nuclear industry must be rebuilt to build, operate
and decommission nuclear plants until it can be shown that additional
nuclear power will not be necessary to meet our targets.
January 2010
268 Chemical Science Priorities for Sustainable Energy
Solutions, RSC, 2005. Back
269
UK Bioenergy-The environmental impact of second generation crops,
British Bioenergy News, 7, February 2008 Back
270
Petroleum Review, pp 26-27, June 2006 Back
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