UK not prepared for growth in EV use, think tank warns

A new report by independent think tank the Green Alliance claims that the UK government will have problems if energy systems are not improved to take account of developments in solar panels, onshore wind, electric vehicles (EVs) and battery storage. It says people are increasingly choosing to be energy owners and are able to take back at least some control over energy production. The report states, “Politicians are arguing over whether or not to subsidise renewables without seeing how technology has changed
April 25, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
A new report by independent think tank the Green Alliance claims that the UK government will have problems if energy systems are not improved to take account of developments in solar panels, onshore wind, electric vehicles (EVs) and battery storage. It says people are increasingly choosing to be energy owners and are able to take back at least some control over energy production.


The report states, “Politicians are arguing over whether or not to subsidise renewables without seeing how technology has changed the big picture. They believe that they hold the purse strings. But, within the next five years, the government will lose the ability to constrain small scale energy technologies by limiting subsidy because none will be needed. We are entering a new era where the consumer really can take control.”

Green Alliance warns that one per cent of the UK could see drops in voltage if battery powered cars are clustered together, while as few as six electric vehicles located near one another could have the same effect.

It is calling on the government to give consumers real choice over energy generation and consumption it must actively direct the transition to a smarter system.

Related Content

  • Suppliers reshape to provide tolling and traffic management expertise
    August 2, 2013
    Jason Barnes examines the trend towards single source supply of complete tolling and traffic management solutions with some senior tolling industry figures. Only a few years back, the major tolling system suppliers were aggressively positioning themselves as one-stop shops for tolling solutions and operations. No sooner has that little flurry of innovation settled than another trend has emerged – tolling companies wanting to become major ITS suppliers as well. Various tolling company seniors have in recent
    Read More
  • Future traffic management needs new thinking, new technology
    January 23, 2012
    One of the biggest problems facing US ITS professionals, says Georgia DOT's Hugh Colton, is the constrained thinking which is sometimes forced upon those making procurement decisions. It is time, he says, to look again at how we do things. In the November/December 2010 edition of this journal, Pete Goldin interviewed Joseph Sussman, chairman of the US's ITS Program Advisory Committee. Amongst other observations that Sussman made was that, technologically, ITS in the US is 10 years behind that in the world-l
    Read More
  • Road user charging environmentally necessary
    February 27, 2012
    I like it when an otherwise unremarkable evening turns into something which stays in the mind awhile, and enlivened debate has that habit of planting seeds in the mind which over time grow into thinking with much wider application.
    Read More
  • Home based real time travel information drives reduction in car use
    January 20, 2012
    David Crawford investigates a new approach to discouraging car use - the 'kitchen as travel centre'. ITS technology working together with UK planning legislation is driving an innovative 'kitchen as travel centre' approach to home design which is boosting public transport as an alternative to car use. The combination is already proving powerful enough to assuage environmentalist opposition to major urban developments. It is also being seen as a way of delivering wider social and community benefits inside an
    Read More

Highlighted Content