The solution to decarbonisation of heat lies in pitting proponents of green gas and electricity against each other and the adoption of a wartime mentality.
This was the rallying call of Octopus Energy chief executive Greg Jackson who told Utility Week Congress that the urgency of the situation was such that time could not be wasted on years of research into which technology was best suited to aid the net-zero journey.
Jackson said competition would be stimulated by increasing taxation on dirty electricity and gas.
He was speaking as part of a panel of chief executives on the first day of the pan-utilities conference in Birmingham. Fellow panellist Michael Lewis, chief executive of Eon, echoed Jackson view but stressed that hydrogen from electrolysis would have a key role in the future.
Jackson said: “We have to adopt a crisis footing on electrification and making electricity green.
“We know that where we are today is that wind is becoming the cheapest source of energy. We know also that most of our taxes fall on electricity not on gas, which is bonkers.
“Myself and Mike sell a lot of gas and here we are saying we want to stop. What we need is to drive as rapidly as possible to an electric system. Probably we need dramatically more price signals and that means increasingly taxing dirty electricity and gas. We absolutely need to recognise that a combination of behaviour change, a dramatic drop in cost of storage and generation means we can bring that forward.”
Asked about whether attempts to inject green gas into the system were worthwhile, Jackson responded: “Fantastic, let’s get some competition going around who can deliver green heat fastest. Instead of having years of debate and long drawn out research projects, we need to rampage towards greener electricity for heating and that has to compete against clean use of the gas network.
“The way to do that isn’t to debate it for years, it’s to bring price signals to bear and to force people to innovate at the speed you would if you were at war.”
He went on to cite the example of the colossal aircraft carriers built by the US during the Second World war, which were constructed within six months, compared to 10 years in the modern era.
Lewis backed Jackson’s calls, adding: “When we want to go to full electrification, it still requires huge amounts of storage. A large part of that solution will come be hydrogen from electrolysis so there’s not a contradiction between the two things. But, very clearly we need to come off methane gas.”