On Friday 18 November, CCLS were pleased to welcome John Higgs to host his lecture, "UK Energy: A Path to Net Zero".
"In July this year the High Court ruled that the UK Government’s strategy for getting to Net Zero is inadequate and unlawful. In October the Government accepted this judgement.
In his incisive lecture John Higgs, provided an assessment of the current UK energy situation and offered a route to Net Zero emissions. John's source data is the government energy statistics produced by BEIS. His analysis draws on his engineering experience in energy technologies.
John critically examines some of the claims made about the UK's emissions reductions and evaluate sustainable energy solutions.
He believes it is technically possible to achieve net zero and keep close to 1.5 degrees global temperature rise, but it needs an immense driving force to implement such a solution and he explains the challenges that we need to overcome in order to succeed.
John concludes -"We must create a clear, realistic and attractive vision of a society based on sustainable energy; sustainable food supplies; and a healthy biosphere and show a credible and attractive route to achieving it. Without this vision there is the danger that the population will move from ignorance and denial to a fateful acceptance of an inevitable collapse of our society and civilisation as the effects of climate change become ever more present.
Somehow, we have to offer a clear way forward to a better future and try to avoid the paralysis of despair."
John Higgs B.Sc. C.Eng FIET
If you missed the session, please see audio here and slides below Energy Net Zero Slides 2022 [PDF 2,636KB].