irc wrote:I don't believe banning gas central heating is feasible in the near future. In the Beast from the East weather March 2018 UK gas demand peaked at 214GW. For comparison the peak electricity demand that winter was 53GW
I don't think anyone is saying they are going to ban them outright. There was something on the radio (I think, unless it was a podcast) about banning them in new builds. Is gas heating still allowed in new build flats? I don't think gas cookers are allowed anymore.
I think there are big shake ups on the way.
Local battery storage is getting ever cheaper so you can store your solar generated power to use when you need it, not just when the sun shines. Last time I looked at prices it is now cheaper to get solar with storage than it was to just have solar a few years ago.
Multimegawatt grid level battery storage is becoming feasible. There are several in operation around the world although I'm not aware of anything big in the UK yet.
The latest offshore wind turbines are now up to 15+MW each & will work in much lower wind speeds. If you pass a wind farm & none of the turbines are operating it is more likely that they are idle* due to lack of demand rather than there not being enough wind. (*They are paid to keep them idle when the demand isn't there in the same way that coal fired generators are paid to keep their plant idle but ready for action).
Vehicle to grid is another interesting one just starting to creep into the public domain. The idea being that electric car owners charge their cars up on cheap electricity & then sell a little bit back (a few %) to the grid when demand is high (& prices high too). With enough vehicles in the system there is scope for significant peak smoothing. The technology could also be configuted to run your home from the car in an emergency.
Former member of the Cult of the Polystyrene Head Carbuncle.