This note has a specific and limited purpose: to consider the appropriateness of a target of ‘net zero by 2050’ as the overarching strategic objective of a national policy to reduce carbon emissions.
Variable Renewable Energy (VRE) from wind and solar is frequently cited as the solution to UK Electricity decarbonisation. Technology learning curves suggest that, depending on location, wind and solar, which accounted for ~8% of global electricity generation in 2019, are currently, or projected to become, the “cheapest” source of new generation in most countries by 2030.
The Energy Transition represents an unprecedented challenge for Policy Makers. The speed and magnitude of emissions abatement demanded by the 2008 Climate Change Act, whose 4th & 5th carbon budgets are currently off course, combined with the subsequent increased ambition signalled by the UK 2050 Net-zero commitment made in 2019, along with the recent course-correcting commitment to target a 68% fall in emissions by 2030 vs. the 1990 baseline, requires the rapid promotion and diffusion of clean energy innovation with action extending to the hard-to-abate sectors dominated by buildings, industry and transport.
A document setting out some prospective, new thematic areas of policy research in cooperation with RPI ANZ, inviting support and participation. The current list is not exhaustive: more new areas are being identified.
Back in the 1990s and the early years of the 21st century the UK government developed a relatively sophisticated handbook to guide the evaluation of
The Paper challenges the common supposition that (scarcity) rents at Heathrow airport accrue from airlines charging efficient clearing prices and instead suggests that because of oligopolistic practices, much of the rent at Heathrow is quasi-monopoly rent. It also suggests remedies that could be implemented in the short term before more runway capacity is added and that if Heathrow airlines matched the average load-factors of those at London’s other major airport, Gatwick, average fares might be as much as 5 per cent lower.
It was a great pleasure to spend two, sunny, late November days in Melbourne this year (2019) discussing the future of regulatory policy with Australian
Delivered as part of ‘Has the privatisation experiment been a success with 30 years of evidence?’, Hertford Seminar in Regulation 2019
Delivered as part of ‘Investing in utility networks with less reliance on markets and more uncertainty: how do we deliver security and efficiency?’, Hertford Seminar in Regulation 2019
The Xmas and New Year break is a good time to catch up on background reading that has sat around on a ‘to do’ list