April 10, 2014

wind energy: what are the limits?

The most recent IPCC report has concluded that climate change is real, man-made, and already having discernible effects.  If we are to reduce emissions, the challenge facing engineers is how to decarbonise our energy system.

Onshore wind power is the most mature of the variable renewable energy generation technologies, and offshore wind is making technical and economic gains.  But how far can the electricity grid rely on wind and still balance a fundamentally variable energy source?

The Royal Academy of Engineering’s new report, Wind energy: implications of large-scale deployment on the UK energy system, assesses the potential for wind energy to help meet the government‘s own target of 15% of the UK’s energy from renewable sources by 2020 and 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The working group considered all three aspects of the energy ‘trilemma’ – security, cost and decarbonisation – together with the practical engineering issues involved and the challenge of creating a fully decarbonised electricity system by the middle of the century.

Members of the working group came to the SMC to talk about their findings.

Speakers:

Rear Admiral John Trewby CB FREng, Working group chair

Prof Richard Green, Professor of Sustainable Energy Business at Imperial College

Prof Roger Kemp FREng, Professor of Engineering at Lancaster University