This week, the BBC aired the Panorama episode ‘Re-Wiring Britain: The Race to Go Green’. In the following commentary our Head of Energy Transition, Tim Wynn-Jones, reflects on the episode and provides his own personal insights.
Bringing Energy Transition into the Mainstream
“I was delighted to see the energy transition becoming part of mainstream media, and that the BBC have chosen to address the topic for viewers. The media play an important part in helping society understand all of the moving parts to this nuanced and multi-faceted theme.
The programme was well balanced in acknowledging the scale of the ambition and challenge of delivering 2030 Clean Power targets – it’s a huge task and it needs to move at pace.
Notably, all interviewees from politicians, to celebrities, industry figures and local campaigners agreed that there is an undeniable need for more clean energy to transition away from fossil fuels.
This is key, because unusually for a debated topic we all share the same goal.
The disagreements centred on the “how” rather than the “why”. In particular, the BBC explored the impact on the countryside and communities hosting, or near to, new infrastructure such as pylons, solar farms and substations.
The episode concluded there is a challenging balance to achieve between minimal disruption to communities, whilst also achieving the pace and affordability that the energy transition demands.
Have they told the whole story, or is there more?
Ultimately, the episode focused on energy supply and the required infrastructure to provide power to the nation, using examples such as the £40bn investment by SSE over the next 10 years.
But, critically, this is only one half of the “supply v demand” equation. It’s imperative that we also help people understand how we can reduce the need for energy in the first place, by reducing our consumption throughout society.
This includes transforming buildings to require less heat and power, changing industrial processes to rely on responsible fuels and materials, and re-thinking how we travel and transport goods around the world with greener vehicles.
It also includes a new approach to how we harness energy at different times, using smart storage and demand-management software to distribute it more effectively. This is known as harnessing latent capacity or flexibility of energy systems through technology.
We shouldn’t let this potentially polarising debate around energy generation and infrastructure detract from the no-regret opportunities to foster new technologies and digital infrastructure. These opportunities will make clean energy more secure, affordable and attractive to consumers.
Much of this can happen at a smaller and more localised level, where investors of all shapes and sizes can play a part in delivering the transition, not just the corporates and large-scale infrastructure investors that have largely dominated the debate in the past.”
Blackfinch Launches New Energy Transition EIS Amid Growing Investor Demand
Blackfinch Energy Transition EIS Portfolios were launched in 2024 to address this wide-ranging theme. Investors can help technology start-ups with innovative, proven concepts, go to market and change the way energy is generated, stored, distributed and consumed. If you would like to know more, visit our EIS page.
