Time for a better understanding of Britain’s Primary Energy mix and the reality of prospects for change

The supply and demand of energy is quite complex. You cannot, for example, decouple EVs from the electricity production and supply chain. A third of our electricity is currently generated from fossil fuels (Gas) for example. So for a third of journeys in your EV you are simply transferring the pollution upstream.

The progress towards renewables for power generation has been commendable and will continue. However significant parts of our overall energy consumption mix are “oil specific” and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Aircraft and Ships and much of the Commercial Road Transport sector cannot change from oil. Even a quarter of our trains run on diesel and to replace them with the greener electric trains requires a substantial investment in transmission systems.

Natural Gas which replaced coal, and in some cases oil, in industry (etc.) is also unlikely to be replaced by renewables for some time. Hospitals, for example, will have Gas-fired boilers for years to come. And space heating in the home will be reliant on gas for decades. 

Much of the “debate” about the need to switch from fossil fuels to greener energy is depressingly ignorant. If ever there was a subject requiring an understanding of the “Art of the Possible” its energy. It’s sadly lacking.