Green field

摘要

We all know that renewable energy is going to be important if the UK is going to meet its legally binding carbon emission pledges (80 per cent reduction from 1990 levels by 2050). But renewable energy represents more than a mere obligation we must comply with: it's an exciting, thriving and rapidly growing sector in its own right. Saudi Arabia has oil, Russia has gas, Australia has minerals... and the British Isles has thousands of miles of turbulent coastline and windswept land. We must exploit that for our own economic good, so goes the argument. The new kid on the block, wave and tidal power, has got observers particularly excited. It has been estimated that in the UK there is 50-90 terawatt-hours of 'technically and economically recoverable' energy per year - 14-26 per cent of total demand in the UK.