Leading advisers call for UK net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050

Today the Committee on Climate Change recommended that collectively the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments commit to delivering #netzeroUK carbon emissions by 2050. Currently the UK is committed to cutting emissions by 80% by the middle of the century.

The government advisory body was clear that the science of climate change demands it, that much of the technology exists to deliver it and where it is not yet commercially available, successful experience with offshore wind and battery storage gives confidence that it will be.

Vattenfall’s own experience also gives us confidence that this can be achieved. We are testing innovation at the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre to improve productivity and bring down cost, co-locating a 22MW battery at our Pen y Cymoedd onshore wind farm to maintain grid reliability, developing molten salt heat storage in Berlin with SaltX Technology and proof of concept development of hydrogen-fuelled steel production with the Hybrit project in Sweden.

Our innovation lead is one of the reasons why earlier this week our CEO Magnus Hall wrote, with 49 other industry leaders, to urge the EU to go for #netzero by 2050. And its why we urge the UK government to accept the recommendations of the Committee and legislate as soon as possible to achieve #netzero by 2050.