Second Update of February 2021 – 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)

Monday – 8th February

• This piece describes ideas to adapt pumped storage to smaller hills. Pumped storage uses pumps to take water uphill during times of low power demand and allows water downhill to generate electricity during times of greater demand.

Tuesday – 9th February

• Residents from communities in NW England have been invited to exhibitions by UK Government agencies in order to understand if they would consider hosting an underground nuclear waste site. Nuclear waste from weapons and power has been stored at the surface while a permanent site for safe disposal is established.

Thursday – 11th February

• Rolls Royce has announced that it has almost completed feasibility studies for small modular nuclear reactors and will be using them to generate power in the UK by 2030. The article suggests one SMNR could generate enough electricity to meet the needs of a city the size of Leeds in northern England.

Friday – 12th February

• This article covers reports that the UK Government is seeking “a sector-by-sector view on .. carbon pricing and an overall road map to deliver [it] in the next decade”. The commentator describes concerns over ‘carbon leakage’ where industry moves to jurisdictions without carbon pricing costs and describes options to tax goods imported from such places.

• A BBC article describes a company’s plans to generate hydrogen offshore using excess wind power generation capacity and seawater creating energy with zero greenhouse gas emissions.

• With a foreword from the UK Secretary for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the department has provided a comprehensive document outlining a strategy to reduce fuel poverty. According to the piece, strategy will include funding and aims to create warmer homes, reduce energy bills, reduce cost to NHS due to poor health and contribute to targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050.