Energy 2050 : making the transition to a secure low carbon energy system / edited by Jim Skea, Paul Ekins, and Mark Winskel.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1.Introduction / Mark Winskel -- The long-term challenge of secure low carbon energy -- Thinking about energy futures -- How the book was written -- Structure of the book -- 2.UK Energy in an Era of Globalization: Trends, Technologies and Environmental Impacts / Mark Winskel -- Introduction -- Long-term energy trends -- Final energy demand -- How energy is used -- Future energy demand technologies -- Primary energy demand -- Trends in electricity generation -- Future electricity generation technologies -- Energy trade and self-sufficiency -- Energy infrastructure -- Environmental concerns -- Conclusions -- 3.UK Energy Policy and Institutions -- Introduction / Mark Winskel -- Ownership issues, late 1940s to mid-1990s -- Managing and regulating the flow of electricity -- Managing and regulating the flow of gas -- New issues in energy policy -- UK climate and energy policy development -- UK policies for CO2 emissions reduction, 2000-2010 -- Policies for energy security -- Conclusion -- 4.Energy Futures: The Challenges of Decarbonization and Security of Supply / Jeanette Whitaker -- Introduction -- Energy systems, decarbonization and resilience -- The scenario framework -- Scenario analysis and modelling tools -- Key assumptions in the core scenarios -- Reference scenario results -- The gap between the Reference scenario and policy aspirations -- 5.Pathways to a Low Carbon Economy / Neil Strachan -- Introduction -- Scenario design -- Scenario results -- Insights and conclusions -- Annex 5.1 Data for calculation of carbon tax implied by UK Climate Change Levy (CCL) -- 6.A Resilient Energy System / Xinxin Wang -- Introduction -- What can go wrong: shocks to the energy system -- Indicators of resilience -- Quantifying resilience at the macro level -- Resilience: implications for energy markets and technologies -- Reliability in the network industries -- Hypothetical system shocks -- Mitigating the shocks -- Adding up the costs of resilience -- Policy implications -- 7.Accelerating the Development of Energy Supply Technologies: The Role of Research and Innovation / Brighid Jay -- Introduction -- Technological innovation and energy system change -- The accelerated technology development scenarios -- Scenarios, system modelling and the real world -- Accelerated development scenarios and UK decarbonization pathways -- Implications and challenges -- Summary and conclusions -- 8.A Change of Scale? Prospects for Distributed Energy Resources / Nigel Brandon -- Introduction -- Challenges in the residential sector -- Technology characteristics, performance and suitability -- The human dimension: installers and householders -- Policy challenges for distributed energy resources -- Conclusions -- 9.The Way We Live From Now On: Lifestyle and Energy Consumption / Neil Strachan -- Introduction -- Quantifying lifestyle -- Lifestyle change at home -- Lifestyle change in mobility and transport -- Lifestyle change for a low carbon world -- Public policy implications -- Conclusions -- 10.Not Just Climate Change: Other Social and Environmental Perspectives / Mark Winskel -- Introduction -- Environmental pressures -- Socio-environmental sensitivities -- Conclusions -- 11.UK Energy in an Uncertain World / Jim Skea -- Introduction -- Assumptions and scenarios -- Results -- Conclusions -- 12.Putting It All Together: Implications for Policy and Action / Jim Skea -- Introduction -- Current energy system challenges -- The historic context -- Comparing the scenarios -- Multiple pathways to a low carbon economy -- Building in resilience -- Accelerating technological change -- Decarbonizing electricity supply -- Energy demand -- Lifestyle change -- Environmental concerns -- The international context -- In conclusion.

The United Kingdom is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by at least eighty per cent by 2050, a target that will only be achieved by transforming the way that energy is supplied and used. At the same time there are anxieties about the security of energy provision in terms of European dependency on natural gas and the reliability of electricity supply. This book explores in detail those factors which could help or hinder the attainment of the UK's climate change targets, and how these factors interact with the parallel objective of maintaining a robust and secure energy system. The book is the result of a major national energy research effort by the UK Energy Research Centre, which includes some of the UK's leading energy experts. The results and recommendations are essential reading for policymakers, professionals, researchers, and anyone concerned with achieving large-scale reductions in carbon emissions, both from the UK and internationally. Energy 2050 begins by exploring the evolution of the UK energy system over recent decades: the trends, technologies and environmental impacts related to energy use, and the structures and institutions of governance that have influenced this evolution. It then moves on to changes in energy policy to emphasise decarbonization and resilience, and introduce the approach to scenarios and modelling used in the rest of the book. Later chapters explore different aspects of the uncertainties that may enable or constrain the creation of a low-carbon, resilient UK energy system, related to accelerated technology development, the creation of an infrastructure to support de-centralized energy and microgeneration, to lifestyle and behaviour change, and to public attitudes to wider environmental impacts associated with energy system change.