Electricity Consumption & Energy Gap in the UK
When the diversion to electricity was advocated by the UK Government, the electricity consumption in the country increased by 150% during the period 1948-mid 1960s. But later during the 1960s, the growth declined due to market saturation. During 2004, the total energy consumption in the UK was 161.1 million tonnes of oil, that is, 67.6% of the total energy.
During early 2000, there grew a fear of an energy gap in the country’s electricity generation capacity. It is anticipated that various coal fired power stations will shut down on account of its irresponsibility in cleaning the air requirements as per the European Large Combustion Plant Directive. The year 2015 will see the closing down of the four remaining Magnox nuclear stations and four of the AGR nuclear stations in the UK. The oldest of the seven AGR nuclear stations has had its life recently extended by ten years.
As per the industry reports (2005), there might be a shortfall of 20% in electricity generating capacity by 2015. There has also been a solution encouraged to construct new generation nuclear power stations that emit less carbon dioxide. The UK Government is also required to work strategically towards filling the energy gap in the country and exploring alternative power generation technologies so that the carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced substantially.
In June 2006, Centrica announced the construction of Langage Power Station, a conventionally gas-fired power station. Later in 2007, two new coal-fired power stations were announced for Tilbury (Essex) and Kingsnorth (Kent) in the UK, the first time a coal-fired power station would be constructed in the country for 20 years. Apart from these plants, other options suggested to provide new electricity generation capacity and reduce carbon emissions include fossil fuel power plants, nuclear power plants, offshore wind farms, wave power and tidal power, combined heat and power plants, gas from sewage and landfill (biogas), solar electricity, geothermal power, micro generation and sustainable community energy systems.
