Energy 2050: Making the Transition to a Secure Low-Carbon Energy System

This book gathers contributions from members of the UK Energy Research Centre, in the context of a collaborative research project. It addresses the challenge of determining how the United Kingdom might meet its objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. This target was included in the UK’s 2008 Climate Change Act. Yet, significant changes are required in the UK energy sector if this ambitious target is to be respected. Further, the target is set in the context of a liberalized energy sector, controlled largely by private actors, and of a growing reliance in the UK on foreign energy sources. As such, the book also addresses the issue of energy security and resilience to “shocks”. All of the chapter authors use the “scenario analysis” methodology to study various aspects of meeting the 2050 objective while enhancing energy security. A scenario is an imagined future with plausible and internally consistent drivers and developments. Scenarios are explored to assess how non-business-as-usual policies and other variables would impact the UK’s energy future. The authors come from several disciplines and adopt an interdisciplinary approach. Scenario analysis is followed rigorously by each author, and the coherent, cohesive, and comprehensive structure of the book distinguishes it from many other collaborative works in the field.