Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 12TH - 18TH JULY 2019 | 9 Utility of the future: climate change Northumbrian Water and Anglian Water will be leading on the route map with Water UK. Graham Southall, group commercial director at Northumbrian Water, says that one of the biggest challenges will be fugitive emissions from treatment of effluent. "You'll get methane from anaerobic diges- tion processes, and you can't avoid some leaking out. You need to generate more from renewable sources to balance it out," he says. Transport The other area that will be hard is transport, he says. Vans, tankers and other vehicles used by the sector emit a significant amount of carbon emissions. "We'll be looking at moving to predominantly electric vehicles, but also maybe compressed biomethane. But there are a lot of challenges. At the moment, battery technology is okay for light vehicles, but as soon as you get to bigger commercial uses it's quite tricky to match up the vehi- cle and the distance people need to drive," he says. Charging is also an issue because most drivers keep their vehicles at home over- night, so their ability to charge batteries will depend on what type of property they live in and local charging infrastructure, he points out. Michael Roberts, chief executive of Water UK (see column, p12), says that the sector is now beginning work on a route map to 2030, to work out the technical detail of how and where it will cut emissions. "It's an exciting opportunity to look at how we can build on what companies are already doing," he says. Catherine Early is a freelance journalist Energy demand is predicted to double by 2050 to 600TWh. All power generation would be from renewables. A 'business-as-usual' approach to climate change would lead to an expected 4-5°C increase in global average temperature above pre-industrial levels by 2100 with more warming expected a-erwards. Rising sea levels: In a high emissions scenario, by the end of the century the sea level around London is expected to rise by 0.53m to 1.15m. Hot summers: The chance of a summer as warm as 2018 was <10% from 1981-2000, but has now increased to between 10-25%, and with future warming it could near 50%. Flooding: Estimates say that nearly 80% of the world's population could be exposed to significant river flood risks in a 4°C world. Hydrogen Current production of 27TWh would need to jump to 270TWh by 2050 to fuel energy-intensive industrial processes and electricity, and pos- sibly heating at peak times. Carbon capture storage Now believed that CCS will be necessary for industry, as well as hydrogen and electricity production. First two CCS clusters should be operational by 2030, capturing 10MtCO2, while by 2050 we will need the equivalent to at least five clusters. THE MISSION TO TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE SOURCE: NET ZERO THE UK'S CONTRIBUTION TO STOPPING GLOBAL WARMING, COMMITTEE ON CLIMATE CHANGE UK ROADMAP TO NET ZERO EMISSIONS WHAT WE'RE UP AGAINST +4 O C 0.53m ➞ 80% at risk Decarbonising homes Decarbonising homes by 2050 implies ensuring that by 2035 at the latest, all new heating system installations are low carbon. Decisions now Heat infrastructure issues must be addressed with strategic decisions in the 2020s if we are to achieve the necessary decarbonisation by 2050. Electric vehicles Proposals have been made that the govern- ment brings forward its target for ending the sales of internal combustion engines of 2040 to 2035, or even 2030.

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