Whole system models for the GB electricity system suggest that distributed electricity storage has the potential to significantly reduce the system integration cost for future system scenarios. From a policy perspective, this poses the question why this value should not be realised within...

Large scale storage offers the prospect of capturing and using excess electricity within a low carbon energy system, which otherwise might have to be wasted. Incorporating the role of storage into current scenario tools is challenging, because it requires high temporal resolution to reflect the...

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEM FCs) offer a promising alternative to internal combustion engines in road transport. During the last decade PEM FC research, development and demonstration (RD&D) activities have been steadily increasing worldwide, and targets have been set to begin their...

Within the polarised and contentious debate over future oil supply a growing number of commentators are forecasting a near term peak and subsequent decline in production. But although liquid fuels form the foundation of modern industrial economies, the growing debate on 'peak oil' has relatively...

This paper compares and evaluates fourteen contemporary forecasts of global supply of conventional oil and provides some observations on their relative plausibility. Despite the wide range of modelling approaches used and multiplicity of assumptions made, it is shown that forecasts can be...

Offshore wind power is anticipated to make a major contribution to the UK’s renewable energy targets but, contrary to expectations, costs have risen dramatically in recent years. This paper considers the context of these cost increases, and describes a disaggregated levelised cost model used...

This paper investigates the political and institutional factors that have influenced the success of the Senegalese Rural Electrification Action Plan (Plan d׳Action Sénégalais d׳Électrification Rurale, PASER). PASER is of interest because its innovative design attracted extensive offers of...

A recent issue of Energy Policy carried a new contribution to the ongoing debate over the implications of a high penetration of wind power for the UK electricity system [Oswald, J., Raine, M., Ashraf-Ball, H., 2008. Will British weather provide reliable electricity? Energy Policy 36 (8),...

Wind power is widely expected to expand rapidly in Britain over the next decade. Large amounts of variable wind power on the system will increase market risks, with prices more volatile and load factors for conventional thermal plant lower and more uncertain. This extra market risk may...