Farmers – we need to turn the energy market upside down

By 2050 electricity demand will at least double current levels, and simultaneously, the UK is legally bound to reducing carbon emissions by 80%. This means we’re going to see an increasing electrification of every part of our energy network. Heat, power, fuel, transport – you name it, we are going to have to electrify the way we work, live and play!

Good Energy believes that in this kind of scenario, the UK can be powered 100% by renewable energy by 2050. But we’re going to have to turn the energy market upside down to do it – and farmers and land managers have a important role to play.

We’ve been working to change the UK’s energy landscape for 10 years and now believe we understand what needs to be done. Decentralising the way we generate and distribute energy has to happen and that means more micro-generation of electricity.

Although it was anticipated with much trepidation, as it turned out the Comprehensive Spending Review was largely good news for those of us who work in the green energy sector. Support was confirmed for both the Feed-in Tariff which will remain at its published level until the planned review in 2013 (unless there is overwhelming demand) and the Renewable Heat Incentive – a subsidy which should promote the uptake of renewable heat technologies.

The Government has done a good job of protecting the future of the UK micro-generation, for now at least. So with uncertainty over the withdrawal of financial incentives out the way, private investment should start to pick up again, but there is still much more to do.

Meeting that increased demand for electricity from renewable sources will be more than a goal, it’ll be a necessity. We’ve developed a pathway which clearly maps out how the rest of the energy market can join us to provide 100% renewable energy to the UK by 2050. This pathway involves changes to UK energy at every stage of the process, from grid management to investment, and from R&D to transport.

For example, because renewable electricity comes from nature’s abundant resources – wind, water and the sun – its output isn’t always predictable. Our systems require massive improvements in how to forecast, store and manage renewable power, and how to back it up.

Consumers will also need to develop a new, much closer and more intelligent relationship with the energy they use. When people understand where their energy comes from, they will value it more and use it less.

So we’re looking for farmers and land managers to get involved in our vision. We already work with nearly a hundred supplying us with electricity, ranging from the Mackie family who are dairy farmers in Aberdeenshire using wind power to generate electricity to turn their milk into ice cream and selling us the excess, to Adam Twine in Oxfordshire who is behind the Westmill community wind farm.

It won’t be easy, but a 100% renewable future by 2050 is possible. Watch our animation here.

Juliet Davenport is Chief Executive Officer of Good Energy, the UK’s only dedicated 100% renewable electricity supplier.

If you're interested in on-farm renewable energy generation:

• Come along to our solar pv event at Worthy Farm in Somerset on 16th November
• Read our factsheets on renewable technologies: solar pv, AD, wind, biomass