Renewables Can Halt the Climate Crisis and Create Jobs

It’s rare that a solution comes along to solve multiple problems simultaneously. But that's exactly what green energy offers us. The question is how and timing.

A new book by Stamford University academic, Professor Mark Jacobson provides the evidence that proves not only is a 100% renewables-powered world possible, but it would also deliver lower energy bills, deliver efficiencies, create new jobs and the biggest claim of all, make the world a safer place as countries could become energy self-sufficient.

Combine with improved building insulation and ceasing fossil fuel extraction that consumes about 11% of all energy and we can achieve 56% less energy use on average from 2035 to 2050

If you’re like me, you’re thinking this is all too good to be true. Indeed, my initial questions were what technology do we need and what will it cost to implement them?

But the good professor is ahead of us, he says “We have the technologies that we need. We have wind, solar, geothermal, hydro and electric cars. We have batteries, heat pumps and energy efficiency. We have 95% of the technologies that we need right now to solve the problem.”

We know that scientists agree that carbon emissions must fall by 45% by 2030 to keep on track for no more than 1.5C of global heating. So, if we take Jacobson’s thesis at face value, the point we all need to agree on is what is practically possible in the world as we know it, not physically possible in an ideal world, to make it happen here.

The UK was the first country to set emission targets and set a net zero target in law for the government to act on. We have some of the largest offshore wind facilities. Some of the longest operating arrays are bringing power onshore in Kent and there are more planned all around the UK's coastline.

Augmenting this energy source; construction on the £2.4bn privately funded NeuConnect project will begin in Kent in the Summer of 2023. It will create the first direct green power link between two of Europe’s largest energy markets, the UK and Germany additionally stimulating the development of employment land in Medway, a high priority Levelling up area.

The ‘invisible energy highway’ and substation will be operational by 2028. It will enable up to 1.4GW of electricity to flow in either direction between the UK and Germany. It will be one of the world’s largest interconnectors delivering enough to power up to 1.5 million homes over the life of the project with green energy.

But the rest of the world is catching up, which presents a risk for securing inward investment. As the Director-general of the CBI, Tony Danker has said about our national strategy, we “seem to be hoping for the best.”

Whereas investing in green technology used to be something to boast about and put on press releases, now it is just economics. Let's face it, no major tenant would sign a twenty-year lease on a new big box industrial facility that was not built to BREAM Excellent and has an A or A+ energy performance rating.

So, how do we build on what we have achieved so far in the UK?

The first job is to address the market regulation and subsidy structures that no longer make sense when there is more demand than supply.

For the Government to deliver its own target of 50 gigawatts from offshore wind by 2030, it requires new network infrastructure. National Grid has budgeted £54bn ($65bn) to upgrade the UK’s power grid, the biggest investment since the 1950s, to deliver the power generated from offshore wind farms to consumers across Great Britain. That will mean huge profits for the private monopoly and a big diversion of green capital that can be employed elsewhere.

Instead, the government should provide tax breaks for local distribution infrastructure projects. For example, the 130 acres (53 Hectares) of consented industrial land adjacent to the NeuConnect substation at the Isle of Grain could unlock at least 2,000 jobs with high energy consuming businesses; if they could access green energy coming onshore locally without transmission costs.

The same for the 120 acre (49 Hectare) Medway One at Hoo and near the village of Graveney, around one kilometre inland from the north Kent coast where the London Array green energy is landed.

Secondly, the government need to address development and planning law to facilitate investment. The World Economic Forum’s 2019 Energy Transition Index ranked the UK and Germany at the top out of the twenty most advanced nations measured against 40 criteria. The report said the successful transition to clean energy depends on strong regulatory frameworks and stable policies.

It needs to be easier for onshore wind and solar farms need to achieve planning approval. According to reporting in this weekend’s Sunday Times, only two small wind turbines were erected in the UK in 2022. I know for a fact, despite having offtake agreements in place, there are large solar installations in Kent held up by planning for no discernible reason other than local dissent.

There is already consensus on clearer planning policy for onshore wind, just not on the government’s back benches. Then, to mitigate nimbyism, remove decision-making from local level planning authorities in favour of tier two county and unitary councils to take more strategic decisions, just as they do with waste and minerals.

Finally, and probably most importantly, businesses require certainty. Our politics has lacked that for a while.

Assuming the flux is coming to an end and our current Chancellor has UK competitiveness on his agenda, the UK needs an answer to America’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that will inject £306 billion in clean energy subsidies into the US economy. The EU has been quick to respond with the president of the European Commission, Andrea von der Leyen committing to “unprecedented investment in clean technology.”

The Treasury needs to address the amount needed to fund transformational solutions to tackle climate change. Green energy is part of the levelling up agenda. The Chancellor could reinforce the national infrastructure bank with additional funds specifically for low-carbon projects that can unlock local offtake agreements that generate new jobs. This could be funded by expanding the sovereign green savings bond for retail. Imagine local residents literally buying a stake in local green energy to create local jobs to end nimbyism and share in the financial returns of improving their local environment and economy.