It has been said that any truly mature technology is indistinguishable from magic. However, as much as it has transformed our lives, the magic of electricity is something that we mostly take for granted – it’s readily available, relatively dependable, and cheap.
But this may change during the next decade as many European countries begin to face energy shortfalls. Many governments have been caught short as the decommissioning of old power stations, increasing demand for electricity and new EU targets for renewable energy have all coincided, causing many analysts to predict a demand / supply deficit of up to 20% over the coming years.
For obvious reasons, cheap oil, coal and gas power plants are out of favour. Nuclear power is expensive and is still viewed with deep suspicion, meaning that additional capacity is unlikely to be available for some time. Many believe, therefore, that the time for renewable energy has finally arrived.
Unfortunately however, renewables are facing challenges of their own. Plans to build one of Europe’s biggest wind farms in Scotland suffered a set back last week as planning permission was refused on environmental grounds, highlighting some of the problems that will be faced in providing renewable energy on a vast scale. To put the issue in perspective, the world is currently building a wind turbine every four hours. To provide enough wind energy to provide 20% of the EU’s current demand we would need to build a new turbine every 15 minutes for the next 20 years.
As Europe begins to face critical electricity shortages and tries to fund expensive renewable energy programs, prices will inevitably rise to a point where consumers are less likely to take consumption for granted in the way that we do today. High prices will put focus on the option that is too often forgotten – efficiency.
For all the talk of CFLs and low energy appliances, few people aggressively manage their electricity consumption as a scarce resource. However, higher prices will mean a real focus on efficient appliances as consumers start to chase down ‘vampire devices’ such as set-top boxes and mobile phone chargers which slowly consume electricity whilst we sleep. Just as high oil prices cause fuel consumption to be a major selling point for cars, power consumption will become a selling point for the millions of electrical devices we purchase every year.
High prices are coming, it’s going to hurt, and will cause much consumer anguish. But it might make us appreciate the magic a little more, take it less for granted, and be more clever about how we use it.
Sources and further reading:
BBC – Britain facing energy shortfall
BBC – Massive wind farm ‘turned down’
EGL – European electricity markets
Wikipedia – List of countries by electricity consumption
No, it has been said (by Arthur C Clarke) that ‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic’…
Good post. Hopefully we will see a development boom in renewable energy, but efficiency and conservation will have to play a role too.
Thanks for the correction Andy. I was struggling to remember where I had heard that.
It amazes me that so called environmentalists do not consider what there efforts do to the world and global warming as a whole. What studies have ever shown that properly placed wind generation actually affects the birds. Anyone who lives in this area I am sure are aware of the flight patterns and where not to put the wind generators.
These are not fast moving props slicing the air like an airplane. Please add some facts in relation to why the environmentalists argue that it would hurt the wetlands or the countryside. I have seen wind farms in operation. There should be a compromise here, not a total failure to look at the electricity shortfall fast approaching Europe.
John,
Fully agree – we need to get over the ‘not in my back yard’ syndrome ascociated with wind power. I’ve written more about this here: http://www.talkclimatechange.com/2008/03/03/climate-change-the-ultimate-not-in-my-back-yard/
Mark.