Second Update of November 2020 – An overview of last week’s Energy news

Below is this week’s summary. It should be a one minute read relevant to UK energy with links to documents for those who wish to read more.

(Click a bullet point to open the relevant article)

Wednesday – 11th November

• UK offshore drilling for oil and gas in 2020 has dropped to levels not seen since the 1970’s.

• UK Port of Hull has covered almost 9 acres of roofing with solar panels creating a total capacity of electricity generation of almost 7 MW.

Thursday – 12th November

• CEO of UK independent Committee on Climate Change has said that achieving net zero emissions will not be as expensive as previously thought but is critical of the lack of planning to achieve net zero by 2050 by the UK Government.

• UK Prime Minister has said a 10-point plan for achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 will be available ‘shortly’.

• A group led by Rolls-Royce has announced plans to build 16 mini nuclear power stations. The first plant should be ready in 10 years but, following that, 2 could be built each year using modular manufacturing methods. Each station would have the capacity to generate just over 0.4 GW (“enough to power Sheffield”).

Friday – 13th November

• Tesco (UK’s biggest retailer) has announced plans to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from its operations by 2035 including setting up solar power generation sites; fitting solar panels at stores and using electric vehicles.

Saturday – 14th November

• The UK Government has commissioned research into an idea first proposed by science fiction author Isaac Asimov in 1941: The aim is to generate electricity from solar panels in space and send to earth as high frequency radio waves.