Press release

Time to Change

30 Nov 2011

Life Channel CEO Phil Austin recently attended a climate change forum at the Palace of Westminster along with a number of the leading experts in climate change and the provision of power to the UK. The experts gave a stark reality check in terms of the actual current state of energy supply in the UK.

 

Dr Alan Whitehead, MP for Southampton Test, began the event by stressing the importance of the UK's energy reform programme and the UK's need to replace a quarter of its energy capacity by 2020. Another attendee of the event, The Minister of State for Energy Charles Hendry MP, pointed out that the UK's last nuclear power plant was commissioned 25 years ago while the last coal plant was commissioned about 50 years ago. By 2020 many nuclear plants will have closed and the only plant guaranteed to be open is Sizewell B, which will have a significant effect on electricity supply in the UK.

 

Charles Hendry went on to predict that capacity margins for electricity would fall from 20% to 5% by 2020. This situation could have dire consequences as it would mean that on days of high demand, especially in winter, there would not be enough supply to meet the demand for electricity.

 

Ed Gill, the Head of External Relations at Good Energy - an independent electricity supplier, also spoke at the event addressing various cost issues; especially the impact of £200 billion of investment needed in the next 10 years, more than double the level the UK has had in recent years. His suggestion was to explore renewable technologies such as solar and wind power to deal with problems such as intermittency.

 

To many of the attendees at the forum the content was a wake-up call to the very serious problems that the UK is facing. If we carry on as we are then in the next decade the UK may well face an energy crisis. Now is the time for us all to look towards alternative energy solutions, not only to lower our carbon emissions but to make sure that the UK is producing enough power to meet the demand.

 

The Life Channel has recently launched Lifechannel Renewables, a programme for schools to install solar panels and generate their own electricity. By turning to solar panels, schools are gaining a sustainable energy source that will generate an independent supply of electricity and will also lower carbon emissions. Programmes such as this may well become critical over the next decade as an aging infrastructure of power stations is dragged into the reality of the 21st Century.

 

With an increasing demand for electricity and lower carbon emissions, solar panels may well become a fixture on rooftops across the country. By helping schools with the process of installing solar panels now, The Life Channel is hoping to meet two goals: a clean, renewable energy source for schools and maybe more importantly, educating youngsters on the benefits of renewable power and making renewable power sources, such as solar panels, a regular fixture in their lives from an early age.