The way we produce energy is changing. In the last decade the percentage of UK electricity from renewable sources has risen from 11% to over 40%. Renewable energy sources are not only vital to reduce carbon emissions and help mitigate global warming - they are also now the cheapest way to generate electricity. As we increase our electricity demand, and face new challenges from high global gas prices, we will need more low-cost generation to ensure an affordable and domestic supply - but renewables have very different characteristics to traditional thermal generation, including the fact they are variable. Our future energy system will need to be flexible. We need to ensure the way the market works incentivises investment in the right places, and ensures that the benefits are passed on to consumers. The last major programme of electricity market reform was 10 years ago. Now the UK Government has launched a Review of the Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) to ensure the market is ready to deliver full decarbonisation of the electricity system by 2035, subject to security of supply.

Did you know millions of people are wasting money because their boiler isn’t working efficiently? Optimising your flow temperature is quick, easy and free - and you can do it on your own without a plumber. NESTA recommends setting this to 60 degrees. If you set the temperature too high, the boiler won't be able to operate in condensing mode; so it doesn’t mean you get any warmer - just means you're wasting money. CONDENSING COMBI BOILERS WORK BETTER AT LOWER FLOW TEMPS Turning down the boiler flow temperature is different from turning down your main heating thermostat or the valves on your radiators, so doesn’t affect the overall temperature of your home. The flow temperature is the temperature that a boiler heats water up to before it goes around the radiators in your home. Your radiators will feel slightly cooler and rooms may take a little longer to warm up, but your home will still be heated to the temperature you set on the thermostat. It’s just that less energy is wasted. Which means less money is wasted. Making sure your home is well insulated will also help :) PLEASE NOTE: - This advice is not suitable for boilers with hot water cylinders. Stored water needs to be regularly heated to 60°C or above to reduce risk of legionella, which can be dangerous. So it is not recommended to lower the flow temp of conventional or system boilers with hot water cylinders to below 70C. Seek advice if you are unsure. - If you have a medical condition or are vulnerable to cold conditions including asthma, heart conditions, arthritis, osteoporosis and fibromyalgia, then it’s recommended to set higher than 60C. This is because a lower flow temperature may cause rooms to heat up a little more slowly than before. Seek advice if you are unsure. - It is less effective for smaller radiators and works best with large radiators with a big surface area (in a well insulated home). - Actual savings will depend on individual circumstances. Money Saving Boiler Challenge - by NESTA https://moneysavingboilerchallenge.com/ Other useful links: https://www.theheatinghub.co.uk/articles/turn-down-the-boiler-flow-temperature https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/energy-saving-tips/ https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/one-simple-way-to-adjust-your-boiler-to-lower-your-heating-bill-atXmR3z2RY92 Find out more about your boiler: https://www.freeboilermanuals.com/

Yes, turbines that float in the sea are a real thing! (Before you ask, yes they are anchored down so they don’t float away 😉 ) It’s estimated that 80% of the world’s best wind resources are in waters too deep for traditional offshore wind turbines. Floating offshore wind means we can access much deeper waters with higher and more consistent wind speeds. This exciting technology opens up new geographical markets, giving countries with deep coastlines not suitable for fixed bottom foundations access to offshore wind, and new applications such as decarbonising oil and gas. There are different designs on the market, with the most common being the spar-buoy, tension leg platform and semi-submersible. See if you can spot them in the vid... The UK has once again led the way, and is home to the world’s first floating offshore wind farm, Hywind Scotland. It was one of the first countries to set a formal target for floating offshore, aiming for 1GW by 2030. Some experts think this could be increased to 2GW! A report by ORE Catapult showed that floating offshore could bring £33.6bn GVA to the UK, and 17,000 jobs as well as increase export value by £230m by 2031 and £550m by 2050. And that’s just the UK. Globally, there is plenty of opportunity with initial key markets being France, Japan, South Korea, Scotland, Norway, Portugal, Spain and US Pacific Coast. Biden announced recently that up to 4.6GW of floating offshore wind could be opened up for development on the Californian coast. Definitely a technology to watch!

*************** nb the information in this song is now out of date because industry is moving so quickly! The UK no longer leads the world in offshore wind - China now has the largest capacity - building more in 2021 alone than the rest of the world combined in the previous 5 years! Also building more coal though... Still worth a watch - especially if you ever watched Fresh Prince ;) ********************* The UK leads the world in offshore wind. But it's not just thanks to our shallow surroundings and windy coasts, innovation and policy have driven down the cost so that offshore wind is one of the cheapest ways to build new capacity in the UK.

COP26 is a hugely critical moment for the future of our planet. To tackle global problems like the climate emergency, we need to take collaborative action. If we are to be in with any chance of avoiding catastrophic warming levels we need to act fast. In 2015, at COP21 in Paris, 196 countries signed up to the Paris Agreement,a legally binding international treaty on climate change. Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. Countries agreed they would submit their plans for climate action known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) by COP26. In their NDCs, countries communicate actions they will take to reduce their Greenhouse Gas emissions in order to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement. Countries also communicate in the NDCs actions they will take to build resilience to adapt to the impacts of rising temperatures. The urgency to act is becoming more clear, and many countries are behind in their plans; this COP has been dubbed our “last chance” for global action by many. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-4F5MJEeqs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZQkBCNKdvA https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/uk/ https://ukcop26.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/COP26-Explained.pdf https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement

Turbine innovation has played a massive role in bringing down the cost of offshore wind. As the blades get bigger, the swept area increases meaning the turbine can produce more power with each spin. Blades are so big now that EACH blade is longer than Big Ben is tall, and did you know you could fit an elephant in the root of a blade? Not that I can ever imagine a situation where that would be useful...

On 30 September 2024 the UK became the first major economy to phase out coal. The UK was the first country to produce electricity from coal back in 1882. It powered the industrial revolution and up until 1999, coal was the UK's largest source of power.

In 2023 the UK imported over 10% of its electricity. Interconnectors already play a huge role in our electricity supply, and as we increase the amount of renewables we have on the system they will become increasingly more important. Congratulations to National Grid and energinet for opening Viking Link - the longest interconnector in the world! Find out more (in Beastie Boys fashion).