The energy and environmental implications of UK more electric transition pathways: A whole systems perspective

The ‘Shoots Barrage’: An Indicative Energy Technology Assessment of a Tidal Power Scheme

“…In order to determine the primary energy inputs needed to produce a given artefact or service, it is necessary to trace the flow of energy through the relevant industrial sector [14,15,17,19,20,22]. This is based on the First Law of Thermodynamics (the principle of conservation of energy) or the notion of an energy balance applied to the system.…”

“…The system boundary should strictly encompass the energy resource in the ground [23][24][25] (known as the 'cradle' -for example, oil in the well or coal at the mine). In the present analysis the downstream boundary is known as the 'site' (hence, 'cradle-to-site' [16,20]), or national electricity network (operated by the 'transmission network operators ' [TNOs] and 'distribution network operators' [DNOs]). Consequently, it effectively accounts for all UK power sector primary energy use (and associated emissions).…”

“…Human activities have led to quite dramatic increases since 1950 in the 'basket' of GHGs incorporated in the Kyoto Protocol; concentrations have risen from 330 ppm to about 430 ppm currently [4]. The cause of the observed rise in global average near-surface temperatures over the second half of the 20 th Century has been a matter of dispute and controversy. But the most recent (2013) scientific assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that it is 'extremely likely' that humans are the dominant influence on the observed global warming since the mid -20 th Century [4].…”

“…The so-called 'Shoots Barrage' scheme is one of several different tidal barrage possibilities for the Severn Estuary. It would be located upriver of the two present Severn road The present contribution is part of an ongoing research effort aimed at evaluating and optimising the performance of alternative sustainable, centralised and distributed energy systems for the UK [14,[17][18][19] in the context of transition pathways to a low carbon future for the UK [7,20]. Here the 'Shoots Barrage' tidal power scheme has been evaluated using various appraisal techniques to determine its net energy output, carbon footprint, and financial investment issues.…”

National climate policy implications of mitigating embodied energy system emissions

“…Beyond theoretical (Suh 2004, Suh and Huppes 2005) and applied , Crawford 2009) developments in life cycle impact assessments of energy technologies in the 2000s, there have been methodological contributions to improve our understanding of the environmental impacts of in-use and fixed capital stocks (e.g. buildings, infrastructure and products in which people derive a service) Müller 2014, Pauliuk et al 2015), and more specifically in terms of energy pathways (Hertwich et al 2014, Hammond et al 2013, Igos et al 2015. These have not however been applied to understanding implications for revising and setting national and international climate policies when emissions transfers are accounted for in the energy system.…”