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B ritain is going to miss its renewables and carbon reduc- tion targets. That was the admis- sion from National Grid in its latest Future Energy Scenarios report. The shortfall even took into account the eco- nomic freedoms and hardships NETWORK / 36 / JULY/AUGUST 2016 National Grid set out four future energy scenarios: Gone Green, Consumer Power, Slow Progression and No Progres- sion. Whichever you choose, it warned, Britain is falling behind on its climate targets. In all but Gone Green the UK is off course to meet its legally binding com- mitment set out in the Climate Change Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% on 1990 levels by 2050. The report said "action needs to be taken this decade" to meet it. Worse still, none of these sce- narios meets the UK's target to produce 15 per cent of all of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. The earliest that is likely to happen is in 2022. The power sector is pull- ing its weight in the drive to go green and cut carbon emissions. Renewables' share of the elec- FUTURE ENERGY SCENARIOS Paths to the future Even the most optimistic forecasts predict that Britain is going to miss its renewables and carbon reduction targets. Something has to change to get the country back on track. the nation faces as a result of the vote to leave the European Union. The power sector received a positive review in the climate change school report from National Grid, but the same cannot be said for the heat and transport sectors, which are dragging their heels. Scenario comparison GG CP NP SP 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2035 2036 2037 2038 2039 ≥2040 Maximum potential by 2040 Heating Transport Electricity generation Electricity storage Electricity interconnection Gas supplies Environmental targets 1 million heat pumps 4 million electric vehicles 40,000 natural gas vehicles First new nuclear power station commissioned 40% generation is from renewable sources 1GW of new electricity storage technologies* 13GW of electricity import capacity 5% of gas from onshore production 2020 Renewable Energy Directive target met 9 million 10 million 207,000 19GW (total nuclear) 59% 15GW 23GW 54% GG GG GG GG GG CP CP CP GG NP NP NP NP NP NP NP NP NP GG GG GG GG GG GG GG GG GG SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP CP CP CP CP CP CP CP CP CP Gone Green Slow Progression No Progression Consumer Power 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2035 2036 2037 2038 2039 2040 *excluding pumped storage SP Source: National Grid