Ramping up the development and use of battery technologies can help the UK achieve “net-zero” emissions by 2050, according to a new report.
Government advisory body the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) said a net-zero greenhouse gases target for 2050 “is achievable with known technologies, alongside improvements in people’s lives”.
Companies in the chemical and automotive battery sector “have the potential to supply valuable material needed to build batteries domestically in the UK”, the CCC said.
The report came as new data indicated the UK chemical supply chain for battery manufacture could “capture a £4.8 billion (US$6.2bn) per annum market share” by 2030, meeting the needs of UK-built vehicles alone.
According to the CCC: “Due to sharp reductions in battery costs, we anticipate that the lifetime costs of electric cars and vans will reach parity with internal combustion engine vehicles, without subsidy, by the mid-2020s.”
The CEO of UK smart battery company Moixa, Simon Daniel (pictured), welcomed the report’s call for an acceleration of targets to combat climate change. “We need to deliver the best low carbon electricity grid, through smart charging of batteries and electric vehicles, to maximise solar and wind resources.”
And the CEO of UK-based energy storage company redT, Scott McGregor, said the UK was in “pole position” in a global race to develop effective energy storage solutions.
McGregor also called for “annual cumulative targets” to be set for emission reductions per industry sector to “define a legal pathway for reductions year by year over the next decade”.
The CCC’s report is online.
