LETTER FROM BRUSSELS: APRIL 2010

摘要

Decarbonizing the EU's energy sector by 2050, including switching to 80% renewable power, would only cost slightly more than pursuing a high carbon business as usual approach, according to a multi-million euro report published by the European Climate Foundation in April. The report says that nearly all the EU's power generation capacity in use now will have reached the end of its useful life by 2050 and will have to be replaced. The challenge of replacing this plant is basically the same in either a high-carbon, low-carbon or zero-carbon energy scenario, in overall cost and scale, the report argues.rnThe report included analysis from McKinsey & Company and the Energy Futures Lab at Imperial College, London University, among others. It found that the weighted average cost of new build power in the EU over the next 40 years, assuming a fuel mix of 80% renewables, 10% Carbon Capture and Storage and 10% nuclear by 2050, would only be 10-15% more than the high-carbon business as usual baseline.