
UK unveils extensive new plan to go all-electric by 2040 - dmmalam
https://electrek.co/2018/07/09/uk-extensive-new-plan-all-electric-2040/
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aidos
Maybe if Chris Grayling spent less of his time turning the national rail
service into a national disgrace we could focus on having fewer cars on the
road generally.

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jackweirdy
Fortunately not everything is in Grayling's hands.

Greater Manchester is planning a 1000 mile total joined-up network of cycling
lanes: [https://www.tfgm.com/press-
release/beelines](https://www.tfgm.com/press-release/beelines)

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slivym
It's important to note that this grand unveiling of an (not very) ambitious
multi-decade long scheme comes at a time where we've already established we're
going to fail to meet targets for our previous decade long scheme to increase
renewable energy use. If there were any serious will from this government it
would be diverting funds to meet our 2020 target, not start talking about
2040.

~~~
yostrovs
Whoever sets the targets and is applauded in the media is not the same as the
one that has to meet those targets. Retirement comes first, basking in glory
for having helped save the world comes first, becoming an "ambassador" for a
cause comes first. Actually doing it will have to be done by others, and since
those others don't care so much as the papers would have you believe, most of
the targets are not met. That's government and why one shouldn't put much hope
in it to solve anything.

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lovemenot
Seems like a missed opportunity. Millions of rolling batteries frequently
plugged into the grid could be an energy storage pool to help balance
fluctuating demand and supply. Especially from renewable sources.

For this to work, it would require government co-ordination of infrastructure,
incentives and regulations around feed-in tariffs.

There is no evidence in this report that the transport ministry has connected
with the Energy ministry for strategic solutions.

~~~
kwhitefoot
> For this to work, it would require government co-ordination

Renault and the French government are discussing exactly this.

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lovemenot
Good for them. Seriously.

Nerverthelss, in the case of France, it seems mostly redundant. 80% of supply
being nuclear means there's much more baseload than variable supply. Storage
would be less of a concern.

~~~
kwhitefoot
They have quite a large amount of installed wind power some of which is
underutilised precisely because of the large nuclear baseload. Having
dispatchable battery storage would enable more of the turbines to run more of
the time.

I drove from Caen to Bordeaux and then to Luxembourg at the end of May, there
were wind turbines all over the place.

~~~
brohee
And we don't have any offshore wind farms yet, but they are coming...

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melling
Doesn’t it really come down to better batteries that are affordable? The rest
will take care of itself.

Solid-state batteries might do the trick:

[https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/253065-toyota-wants-
leap...](https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/253065-toyota-wants-leapfrog-
competitors-new-solid-state-lithium-ion-battery-design)

~~~
neilwilson
Not necessarily. The latest round of 'gas guzzler' EVs lower the miles per kWh
ratio quite badly. At the moment bigger batteries seem to be getting used up
providing bigger cars, not more miles - with the consequent knock on to the
charging infrastructure. Really the EV grant should be withdrawn for any
vehicle incapable of getting at least 4 miles per kWh.

~~~
AstralStorm
Add per person to it. We want to promote mass transport after all. A bus is
more efficient than a single person car if it is used at capacity or even
halfway. (add a multiplier for unused capacity)

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olivermarks
From wikipedia - UK electricity generation sources
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_the_United_Kingdom#F...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_the_United_Kingdom#Fuel_sources)

...In 2016, total electricity production stood at 357 TWh (down from a peak of
385 TWh in 2005), generated from the following sources:[33][34]

A typical offshore oil/gas platform Gas: 40.2% (0.05% in 1990) Nuclear: 20.1%
(19% in 1990) Wind: 10.6% (0% in 1990), of which: Onshore Wind: 5.7% Offshore
Wind: 4.9% Coal: 8.6 (67% in 1990) Bio-Energy: 8.4% (0% in 1990) Solar: 2.8%
(0% in 1990) Hydroelectric: 1.5% (2.6% in 1990) Oil and other: 7.8% (12% in
1990)

//surprised there is little discussion in the plan for how the electricity
will be generated and transported, or viable sources.

~~~
ksec
>Wind: 10.6%

That is quite amazing. I don't see lots of Wind Farm around UK when I live
there, ( although that was quite some time ago ) That means UK are well within
reach of 100% running on renewable energy.

~~~
neilalexander
On 21 Apr 2017, the UK ran wholly without coal power plants for 24 hours,
making up all of it's power from solar, wind, nuclear and gas!

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NeedMoreTea
22 years. That's not a plan or target, that's kicking it into the long grass
of someone else's problem.

Someone else in power when it gets taken seriously then.

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llukas
This is enough time for companies to wind down their R&D + investments in
internal combustion engines gracefully.

If you want to spend money on ICE engines now you need justify how you get
return in max 22 years.

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nickserv
20 years is still too far out. There should be absolutely no investment in
combustion engines starting about 10 years ago, but the auto makers decided to
invest in diesel and SUVs. I don't see why we need to pay with our health and
our future for investor's short term thinking and greed.

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waterpowder
Well I sure hope it goes better than their extensive new plan to go all-by-
themselves by 2018

~~~
dang
Please don't break the site guidelines by introducing extraneous flamebait
into conversations.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

