British Pugwash discussion meeting
14th February 2013
British Pugwash launched its expert report Pathways to 2050: Three possible UK energy strategies, at a discussion meeting on 14 February. The report discusses three possible UK energy strategies which have been constructed using the ‘Pathways to 2050 Calculator’, made publicly available by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). This report seeks to respond to the call of Professor David MacKay, the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department of Energy and Climate Change, for a “grown-up conversation” about UK energy policy.
Each strategy – ‘High Nuclear’, ‘High Renewables’ and ‘Intermediate’ – achieves the UK commitment to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases by 80% by the year 2050, and uses energy technologies which either exist or can reasonably be expected to be brought to sufficient commercial maturity in time.
The three Pathways were presented by ‘champions’ who discussed the risks and benefits of each. The expert speakers were: Dr Christopher Watson, Chairman of British Pugwash and Working Group convener; Dr Christine Brown, Expert on Reactor technology and the Nuclear Fuel Cycle; Professor David Elliott, Expert on Renewables technology; and Dr Ian Crossland, Expert on Nuclear waste management.