Heat and Decentralised Energy Blog: Funding the future of energy
Blog by Liz Warren, Director, SE2
When I think about the future of our energy system, I imagine a world that is decentralised, decarbonised and democratised. It’s a world where the right energy technologies are deployed in the right places, where everything is trending towards zero carbon, and where new models of ownership mean that the benefits of the energy transition are shared by the many, not the few.
And then someone asks the question: how much will it cost?
The current estimate to decarbonise the UK’s energy systems is £321 billion to 2050. That’s around £11 billion per year.
That feels like a big number but for context, and coincidentally enough, in the year 2020/21, the UK spent £11 billion of public money just on roads.
Also by way of context, back in 2020, households spent £12 billion on gas in 2020 and over £18 billion on electricity. The energy price cap has doubled since then and is set to rise again in Winter 2022. Businesses and the public sector face rising prices too, as the impacts of global shocks and volatile markets hit home...
