GB energy sector must be joined-up to meet Net Zero targets

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)

2 min read29 July 2020 Partner content

Leading engineers are today warning that a joined-up approach to the future of Britain’s energy sector is essential if we are to meet our Net Zero ambitions.

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) believes that the UK must learn lessons from Covid-19 and is calling for a significant acceleration in decarbonising our economy.

The IET is calling on Government to:

Establish a Systems Engineering Advisory Group for energy, to bring together the multi-disciplinary expertise required to meet the Net Zero challenge
Commit to and implement an agile Whole System approach to achieving Net Zero
Urgently review, with stakeholders, how the current legal and regulatory structure of the energy industry could be reformed to facilitate the Net Zero transition for a range of scenarios
IET is calling on government to put in place arrangements to enable smaller stakeholders (supply chain, SMEs, innovation / start-ups etc.) to be actively involved in the sector

Craig Lucas, Chair of the IET Energy Policy Panel said: “The Coronavirus pandemic has dramatically shown how interconnected our world is; internationally and locally. It has also highlighted the interdependencies, unintended consequences, resilience issues and risks within complex systems that have multiple human, technical, regulatory and commercial interfaces.

“It has also clearly demonstrated why society needs a joined-up approach to deal with such crises, now and in the future. This learning can be applied to address the challenges of the climate emergency as we navigate a path to Net Zero.

“We urgently need to see a Whole Systems approach using systems engineering principles if the green recovery and energy transition are to be realised. We ask Government to urgently consider this.”

In 2021, the IET celebrates its 150^th anniversary. Throughout this period the IET has played a fundamental role in shaping the economy and society through many challenging times.