The U.K. faces an additional burden in energy costs from plans to switch to electricity in home heating from natural gas, according to National Grid Plc. The government, chasing a target to cut carbon emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, may push to heat almost all U.K. homes using electricity by that date, Marcus Stewart, future distribution networks manager at National Grid in Warwick, England, said in an e-mail yesterday. Currently, about 80 percent of the country’s homes are heated by gas. “There needs to be a balance between electricity and gas to meet heat demand,” Stewart said. “Moving from one to the other is not economic, whereas a balanced approach can still hit the CO2 target.” Otherwise, the U.K. would need to invest in more stand-by power generation and transmission cables to support electricity-based heating, especially during cold snaps, he said. The move, which is still under consideration, would require the U.K. to triple the capacity of its power grid, according to CNG Services Ltd., a consulting company. The strain on the electricity grid will probably increase as the nation raises power generation from wind farms that only generate in blustery conditions and so also require back up supplies. Electricity can be less harmful to the climate than gas if sourced from generation such as nuclear or renewables. Burning gas produces about half the heat-trapping emissions as coal, while renewables and nuclear produce almost no CO2.
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