The Future of Energy in the UK
The need to find better ways of powering our homes and businesses is of high importance right now. In the fight against climate change, reducing carbon emissions is essential – so what are the energy sources that we can look to more in the future?
Wind – In the UK we actually get a lot of our energy from wind turbines already, and in fact it produces around a quarter of the energy currently produced in the UK. It is not essential that conditions are very windy to power wind turbines – a very gentle breeze is enough to turn them. The government is planning to add to the wind power produced by building more offshore wind farms.
Nuclear – A bit of a divisive form of energy is nuclear power. Although it is an incredible resource, many people are concerned about the risks posed by nuclear power stations that have led to disasters in the past, most famously Chernobyl. However, technology is continually improving and research done by places like this Manchester robotics laboratory https://hotrobotics.co.uk/facilities/university-of-manchester-2/ is striving to make nuclear power better and safer in the future.
Solar – Solar power is obtained from the sun, and many homes now have solar panels on the roof to capture this energy. As well as these solar panels for personal use, some fields have solar panels in them which provide power for the national grid. One of the downsides to this form of energy in the UK is the fact that the brighter the sunshine the more power is produced – in the winter months in particular, this is not something that can be relied on!