British carbon tax leads to 93% drop in coal-fired electricity

New research from the UK’s National Institute for Energy Research (NIER) suggests that if a UK policy is adopted to increase the amount of carbon dioxide and other energy-related gases allowed under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), the output of coal will drop from 53% in 2012 to 27% by 2020.

The research is published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

In 2012, EU rates had overshot the 28-nation British standard, and the national system from the Common European Framework for Climate Change had its capacity used prematurely. European compliance under the ETS was expected to have exceeded 60%, but 20%, of the net contribution from the UK, could have been saved, the researchers say.

“They could have avoided £15,000-£18,000 (£2,500-£4,500 in 2013) of annual costs,” says Dr Richard Chipps of the National Institute for Energy Research (NIER).

Despite this short-term impact, Chipps adds that the remaining savings can cover the extra carbon dioxide generation over the 2010-2020 period, saving over £150 million ($225 million).

“Current policies for CO2 in the EU are at best flawed,” he says. “We need to tailor emissions-reductions policies to the future, and that may mean taking up carbon mitigation policies, such as the proposal for a larger Carbon Emissions Target for 2018-2025, which would increase our emissions profile by 10%.”

Other international research released earlier this month showed that internationally, climate change is resulting in major economic consequences for the world.

Latest research, published by the University of Oxford, shows that a 10% boost in global energy consumption from renewable sources over the next 35 years would cost 2.45% of GDP at today’s prices.

The research adds to evidence that the world is rapidly shifting towards an increasingly carbon-intensive, fossil-fuelled economy. In the following report, NIER concludes that climate change will cut 18% of Britain’s economy by 2050, from 10% in 2012, putting the country’s global competitiveness to the test.