CIAT
is a signatory to the Society for the Environment’s (SocEnv) letter to support the IMechE in
its call for the Government to analyse carefully the benefits of energy storage to Edward Davey MP as
Secretary of State.
Dear
Secretary of State
The
Society for the Environment supports the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
(IMechE), one of its members, in its call for the Government to analyse
carefully the benefits of energy storage and to consider whether current
regulatory and commercial policies and mechanisms are holding back the
development of innovative technologies.
There
is a need to balance supply and real-time demand as renewable energy sources,
which are by their nature intermittent, form an increasing part of the UK’s
energy mix. Storage is one way of helping to do this. A number of innovative storage methods have
been developed and demonstrated in the UK, and some reports have estimated a
potential global market of up to $25 billion.
These include, for example, cryogenic storage, where electricity is used
to liquefy air, which is later expanded through a turbine to recover the energy
as electricity. This technology has
recently been demonstrated at pilot plant scale by a UK company. The demonstration was covered by the BBC in its
Today programme and on its website,
and a summit at IMechE on the subject was attended by your own officials. Other approaches have been developed and
demonstrated, at a range of scales which can be suited to all parts of the
energy market. Storage is also important
for other forms of energy, including heat from such sources as wood-fuelled
boilers, which work most efficiently when run continuously and where supply
therefore needs to be balanced to demand.
The
potential of storage is serious enough to be the subject of a proper
analysis. There are a number of
constraints that could hold back further development, including the rate-of
return-requirements applicable to transmission and distribution companies and
the fact that electricity storage, if it is not recognised as a market sector
in its own right, could fall foul of European rules that exclude network
operators from generation. If the
development of appropriate technologies is held back there is a danger that
they will be exported and that UK businesses will lose out.
The
Society for the Environment works to champion a professional approach to
environmental issues by licensing institutions, under a Royal Charter, to award
the title “Chartered Environmentalist”.
We acknowledge that there is a range of views on energy policy, but all
our members support the need for policy decisions to be based on evidence and
sound science, and to be implemented by qualified professionals. We therefore support IMechE in its call for
energy storage to be subject to a thorough analysis so that it can be properly
considered as policy development is taken forward.
Yours sincerely,
CAROLYN ROBERTS
Chair
|
ALEX GALLOWAY
Chief Executive
|
Supported by
FRANCESCA BERRIMAN MBE
Chartered Institute of
Architectural Technologists
|
MICHAEL BROWN
Chartered Institute of Building
|
NICK REEVES
Chartered Institution of Water
and Environmental Management
|
TIM BRIGSTOCKE
Institute of Agricultural
Management
|
DOUGAL DRIVER
Institute of Chartered Foresters
|
MARTIN BAXTER
Institute of Environmental
Management and Assessment
|
CHRIS WHETNALL
Institution of Agricultural
Engineers
|
NEIL ATKINSON
Institution of Chemical
Engineers
|
WILLIAM POPE
Institution of Environmental
Sciences
|
MICHAEL DORAN
Royal Institution of Chartered
Surveyors
|
NICK JONES
Society of Operations Engineers
|
TIM BOLDERO
Institute of Water
|
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