1
00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:07,840
It's going to be the biggest change
in generations.

2
00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:11,240
The homes we live in

3
00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:13,880
and the cars we drive -

4
00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:16,720
all transformed.

5
00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:19,900
To slow down climate change,

6
00:00:19,900 --> 00:00:23,160
Government has promised
a green revolution -

7
00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:27,600
a carbon-neutral,
net-zero future by 2050.

8
00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:30,100
Are we going to make it?

9
00:00:30,100 --> 00:00:33,200
Deadlines always move, right?
But it's good to have goals.

10
00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:39,360
I'm on my way to meet some people
who think they have the answer.

11
00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:44,720
There are all sorts of targets
to cut CO2 emissions,

12
00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:47,640
but are they remotely realistic?

13
00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:54,760
To find out, Michelle Ackley
investigates what it all means

14
00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:57,160
for our everyday lives.

15
00:00:57,160 --> 00:00:59,480
This is an £18,000 installation.

16
00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:00,960
18? Yeah.

17
00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:03,680
That is a huge amount of money.

18
00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:08,760
Dr Tara Shine reveals
the huge scientific challenges.

19
00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:12,560
It's terrifying to think that
there are cracks in the reactor.

20
00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:14,720
Wahey!

21
00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:16,760
You all right? Oh, yes.

22
00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:19,800
I'll be putting the questions

23
00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:22,720
to the people who are supposed
to be making this happen.

24
00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:25,840
The National Grid
simply isn't fit for purpose.

25
00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:32,800
In this episode, deep inside
the electric car revolution.

26
00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:36,240
It's like a charging heaven.

27
00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:38,880
Whoa!

28
00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:41,680
Really goes. Everyone who says
electric cars are boring

29
00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:43,800
needs to come and drive
one of these.

30
00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:11,800
I've been told
that this place is home

31
00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:14,280
to one of the most promising

32
00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:16,640
green technology projects
in Britain.

33
00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:21,240
I think it's just round
the corner here.

34
00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:25,760
Here in a quiet corner
of Mid-Wales...

35
00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:30,080
..could lie the future of the car.

36
00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:50,480
So this is not what I was expecting.

37
00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:53,320
It's a VW Beetle.

38
00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:56,040
You must be Justin. I am.
How's it going?

39
00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:58,920
Good to meet you. You're Moggy,
yeah? I am Moggy, indeed I am.

40
00:02:58,920 --> 00:03:04,080
Richard Morgan, aka Moggy,
is a man on an electric mission.

41
00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:08,560
I was told to expect
the future of driving.

42
00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:11,760
And this must be... This is more
like Back To The Future here.

43
00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:14,520
You can see the history
and the future of transportation.

44
00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:15,840
The best way to experience it

45
00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:18,280
is to probably get in the driver's
seat and have a drive of it.

46
00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:19,720
OK. So pop yourself in there.

47
00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:25,400
OK. So...

48
00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:27,760
Ignition on.

49
00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:29,760
And then...D for drive.

50
00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:31,160
D for drive.

51
00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:34,880
Handbrake off,
and very gently accelerate.

52
00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:50,360
We haven't yet put it through
its paces, have we? No.

53
00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:52,800
When you feel like you can,
you can floor it.

54
00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:54,960
Wahey!

55
00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:00,960
Oh!

56
00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:05,040
All right, that's enough.

57
00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:09,680
It's good, isn't it?

58
00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:11,680
That is really good.

59
00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:15,560
That is really good. Anyone who says
electric cars are boring

60
00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:18,240
needs to come and drive one of
these. No, they absolutely do.

61
00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:20,200
The power delivery is just awesome.

62
00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:27,320
Moggy is no environmental
campaigner.

63
00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:32,200
He just thinks electric cars
are better.

64
00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:35,480
So I did the British Historic
Rally Championships seven years

65
00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:39,080
in an old Porsche, so I completely
understand the noise, the drama,

66
00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:40,520
the gears, the revs.

67
00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:42,520
I was a massive petrolhead.

68
00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:46,640
And then I drove it
for the first time.

69
00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:49,400
Within seconds petrol was dead to me
because I went on the road,

70
00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:51,600
put my foot down and, "Whoa!

71
00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:53,600
"Where's this power been all my
life?"

72
00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:55,040
Never looked back since.

73
00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:13,480
Moggy now runs a business converting
these glorious classic cars

74
00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:15,040
to make them electric.

75
00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:21,040
So, Moggy, this is your workshop,
and you've got some classic cars.

76
00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:24,000
That's an Aston Martin, yeah?
Correct.

77
00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:25,600
We've got a Porsche.

78
00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:28,360
I would say Ferrari,
but that's a Maserati?

79
00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:30,560
You know your cars,
well done, mate, yeah.

80
00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:34,840
I mean, I'm a classic car nut -
that should be said from the start.

81
00:05:34,840 --> 00:05:39,400
And if I didn't feel we're improving
them by converting them to electric,

82
00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:40,640
I wouldn't be doing it.

83
00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:42,200
I love classic cars too much.

84
00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:45,080
I'm convincing you now.
I can see you nodding and smiling.

85
00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:52,160
Taking out these huge
gas-guzzling supercar engines...

86
00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:55,760
..and replacing them
with electric motors

87
00:05:55,760 --> 00:06:00,520
actually, amazingly,
makes them more powerful.

88
00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:03,800
This is a heavy lump.

89
00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:07,120
You're talking about 650 kilos
of weight just there alone.

90
00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:09,920
Two-thirds of a tonne.
Including the fuel, yeah.

91
00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:15,640
A heavy engine wastes energy
to move it around.

92
00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:17,480
So here we have the electric motor

93
00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:19,760
that's going to be going
in that Land Rover.

94
00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:22,800
So this replaces all of
that gubbins? Correct.

95
00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:29,080
The engine, the exhaust, gearbox
is a much, much simpler animal.

96
00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:35,280
This motor only weighs 45kg,
a fraction of the original engine.

97
00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:42,000
But the weight isn't the only reason
electric motors

98
00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:45,040
improve the performance
of Moggy's cars.

99
00:06:47,280 --> 00:06:49,000
ENGINE REVS

100
00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:51,240
Oh, look at the smoke!

101
00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:54,320
That's a soul escaping,
that is, Justin.

102
00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:56,520
So all this is inefficiency.

103
00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:59,040
The noise, that's wasted energy,

104
00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:02,000
the heat that's coming out
of the exhaust, wasted energy,

105
00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:04,560
the heat coming out of the radiator,
wasted energy.

106
00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:09,560
The efficiency is as low as 30 to
35% for a modern diesel engine.

107
00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:11,480
Now, a petrol engine's even worse.

108
00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:14,760
It's only 20% of the energy
that goes into the engine

109
00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:16,720
is turned into motion.

110
00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:20,520
ENGINE STOPS
Oh.

111
00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:26,920
Petrol engines use small explosions
to drive pistons.

112
00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:28,760
These turn a crankshaft

113
00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:31,920
to ultimately make the wheels
go round.

114
00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:35,520
An electric motor
has far fewer moving parts.

115
00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:39,480
It uses electricity
to induce magnetic fields

116
00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:43,800
which generate rotational movement,
powering the wheels.

117
00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:47,080
Looking through here, I can see
the copper coil.

118
00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:48,960
So the power goes in here,

119
00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:51,800
generates an electric current
which creates a magnetic field.

120
00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:55,560
Correct. Which pushes the rotor...
Really, really fast.

121
00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:58,120
You've got maximum oomph
straight away.

122
00:07:58,120 --> 00:07:59,680
It's like flicking a switch.

123
00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:03,360
And that's why electric cars
accelerate so fast.

124
00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:06,560
Cos all the power straight
from there into the wheels,

125
00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:09,200
onto the road.
Straight into rotation.

126
00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:13,720
As well as being fast to get going,

127
00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:18,760
almost none of the electricity
powering the motor is wasted.

128
00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:22,320
An electric motor is anything
from 90 to 96% efficient

129
00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:24,880
in turning that energy into motion.

130
00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:31,240
If Moggy is right, electric cars
are surely the future of motoring.

131
00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:37,240
They are quiet, efficient
and non-polluting.

132
00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:41,680
But most importantly,
they are part of the solution

133
00:08:41,680 --> 00:08:46,800
to the biggest problem of our era -
climate change.

134
00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:51,800
I believe that we have a moral duty
to leave this world

135
00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:54,400
in a better condition
than what we inherited.

136
00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,320
Four years ago, the Government
committed the UK

137
00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:02,480
to become net zero by 2050.

138
00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:07,360
Even the definition of net zero
is controversial,

139
00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:11,240
but broadly it means that
as a country, on balance,

140
00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:15,920
we won't emit any additional
greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

141
00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:20,040
At the moment, one quarter
of our carbon emissions

142
00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:22,680
are created by cars and transport.

143
00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:29,000
Though it's greener
not to drive at all,

144
00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:33,080
when it comes to cars, most people
believe the best solution

145
00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:37,080
is electric vehicles,
also known as EVs.

146
00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:40,800
They have a surprisingly long
history,

147
00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:45,240
from the first electric vehicles
in the early 1900s...

148
00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:49,720
..to the Moon Rover in 1971.

149
00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:55,680
But the problem
has always been range.

150
00:09:55,680 --> 00:09:57,760
The batteries weren't up to much,

151
00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:00,760
which meant electric cars
were always...

152
00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:03,800
..experimental.

153
00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:11,200
The invention of the powerful
lithium ion battery

154
00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:12,680
changed everything.

155
00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:18,040
First came the hybrids -
part electric, part petrol -

156
00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:21,080
which were all about
fuel efficiency,

157
00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:25,600
until fully electric vehicles
finally became sexy.

158
00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:28,120
Our goal is to get to cars
that everyone can afford

159
00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:30,240
as soon as possible.

160
00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:33,440
Now electric cars are mainstream,

161
00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:37,720
with ten million of them
sold worldwide last year.

162
00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:42,000
Reports suggest that a Tesla
has become the best-selling car

163
00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:44,760
in the world in 2023.

164
00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:49,320
HORNS BLARE

165
00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:54,200
Two years ago, the UK Government
finally decided to make the leap

166
00:10:54,200 --> 00:11:00,000
out of the petrol era and announced
that all new petrol and diesel cars

167
00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:02,760
would be banned by 2030,

168
00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:06,080
though you will still be able
to buy them second-hand.

169
00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:10,440
The plans include
£620-million grants

170
00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:13,160
for electric cars
and charging points.

171
00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:16,640
Of course, electric cars
are a lot greener

172
00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:18,800
if the electricity they use

173
00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:22,200
is generated wholly
from renewable sources.

174
00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:26,320
But that is a story for
the second part of this series.

175
00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:33,120
And however exciting they are
to drive,

176
00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:37,440
electric cars have some
significant drawbacks,

177
00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:39,600
as Moggy was happy to show me.

178
00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:43,680
So these are Tesla batteries,
of which there's 16 of these... 16!

179
00:11:43,680 --> 00:11:46,480
..in a Tesla Model S. Now, looking
at it, it actually looks like

180
00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:49,400
lots of batteries lined up in rows.
That's all it is.

181
00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:52,000
Can I see how much they weigh?
Go on, then. They're quite heavy.

182
00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:53,880
So how much is that?
That is very heavy.

183
00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:56,680
That's about 25 kilos just in that.
25 kilos each? Yeah.

184
00:11:56,680 --> 00:11:59,520
And that is the rub
with electric cars.

185
00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:05,040
It's about the same energy
in there as one litre of petrol.

186
00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:07,280
So that is the key challenge
for electric vehicles.

187
00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:09,480
You've got to pack a lot of these in
to get anywhere near

188
00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:11,360
what you get out of
a tank of petrol. Correct.

189
00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:13,640
And that's why electric cars
don't go as far.

190
00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:15,680
Otherwise they'd be really,
really heavy.

191
00:12:15,680 --> 00:12:18,160
And how much would that cost,
one of these?

192
00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:21,600
Second-hand, roughly around
about £1,000. £1,000 each?

193
00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:24,480
And you need 16 of them. So they're
expensive, and they're heavy.

194
00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:27,880
So that's 16 grand minimum? Correct.
For a Tesla? Yeah.

195
00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:31,640
So here's the problem.

196
00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:37,160
The top-selling electric cars
are mainly pricey premium vehicles.

197
00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:41,920
But even mass-market models
with a decent range

198
00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:47,840
start at around £30,000 - up to
a third more than conventional cars.

199
00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:51,160
Electric cars are cheaper to run,

200
00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:55,880
but their high price means that many
people simply can't afford them.

201
00:12:59,560 --> 00:13:03,680
Well, it's been amazing to spend
some time with Moggy in Wales,

202
00:13:03,680 --> 00:13:07,400
and that VW Beetle that he's built
is absolutely incredible.

203
00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:09,960
The performance is amazing,

204
00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:12,680
and that's what's so persuasive
about EVs.

205
00:13:12,680 --> 00:13:15,760
But the problem is, of course,
the batteries.

206
00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:18,600
So much more work
needs to be done on those.

207
00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:30,560
Batteries are expensive.

208
00:13:30,560 --> 00:13:33,680
They are keeping the cost
of EVs high.

209
00:13:33,680 --> 00:13:37,760
I've come to the University
of Warwick to find out why.

210
00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:42,240
People have always assumed
that as production increases,

211
00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:45,480
the cost of electric cars
will come down.

212
00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:47,200
But is that true?

213
00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:50,920
I'm meeting two battery experts...
Hi, Mel.

214
00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:53,120
..to find out what drives
these costs.

215
00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:56,480
What actually is in a battery?

216
00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:59,760
When you unravel it, inside,

217
00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:03,280
you've got many alternating layers.

218
00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:09,800
So on one side you've got
a layer coated onto copper,

219
00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:11,480
which is the negative electrode,

220
00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:15,520
and in the other electrode
you have aluminium.

221
00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:19,000
So it's of the similar thickness
of a human hair.

222
00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:22,320
Wow. In the negative electrode
printed on copper,

223
00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:25,680
you have graphite. OK. And then in

224
00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:28,320
the positive electrode
printed on aluminium,

225
00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:33,520
that's where you have things like
nickel, cobalt, manganese.

226
00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:35,880
So then this is
a lithium ion battery.

227
00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:40,240
So why is lithium so well-suited
to playing this role?

228
00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:47,080
Lithium is a tiny atom, so it can
fit inside other materials.

229
00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:51,160
It also gives up an electron
really easily,

230
00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:53,600
so it's easy to harness its energy,

231
00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:57,280
and it's a very energy-dense
material, so it's perfect

232
00:14:57,280 --> 00:14:59,520
for charge-carrying in a battery.

233
00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:03,000
They are literally electrifying
the world.

234
00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:06,440
So Jess, I believe you can tell me
a little bit more about the metals

235
00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:07,680
and where they come from.

236
00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:10,200
Where would I find some lithium
in the world, then?

237
00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:15,040
So lithium is primarily
being mined from two main sources.

238
00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:16,720
You've either got your hard rock

239
00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:19,800
or your other main source
is salty brine like sea water.

240
00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:22,960
The brine has really high
concentrations of lithium in it

241
00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:24,840
in certain parts of the world.

242
00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:27,360
It's still primarily Australia
for the hard rock

243
00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:30,040
and then the South American
countries that are responsible for

244
00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:31,440
a lot of the brine extraction.

245
00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:36,320
Globally, we produce about a million
tonnes of lithium materials a year.

246
00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:42,240
At current rates of growth, by 2030,
that is predicted to rise

247
00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:44,600
to just 2.5 million tonnes.

248
00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:49,400
But with tens of millions of
new electric vehicles on the road

249
00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:53,840
by then, some experts predict
we'll need over five million tonnes

250
00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:57,520
of lithium - twice as much
as we can produce.

251
00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:03,240
So if we're going to make cars,
EVs, in the future,

252
00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:05,080
we're going to need
a lot of lithium.

253
00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:07,040
So is there enough out there?

254
00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:08,960
Lithium isn't a rare element.

255
00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:10,880
It's really common.

256
00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:14,920
But the shortage or the issues that
we have in the supply chain

257
00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:17,080
come from the fact that
we don't have enough mines

258
00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:19,400
or refining capacity at the moment

259
00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:21,440
to just meet the sheer demand
that there is.

260
00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:27,920
That demand means prices
can fluctuate wildly.

261
00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:31,920
Between September 2020
and January 2023,

262
00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:36,560
the cost of lithium
went up by over 1,000%.

263
00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:38,280
It's fallen back a bit now,

264
00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:41,960
but the massive increase
in global demand can't be good news

265
00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:44,480
for the price of electric cars.

266
00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:50,280
So, nickel. Now there's something
that I've heard about recently

267
00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:52,040
as being expensive?

268
00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:54,600
Russia is a pretty important
producer of nickel,

269
00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:58,000
and that supply
has really been curtailed.

270
00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:01,040
And that's had a big impact
on nickel prices.

271
00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:06,960
So last year it spiked
at about $40 for a kilogram.

272
00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:11,720
One of the biggest components
is graphite,

273
00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:14,160
like what's used in pencil lead.

274
00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:19,800
But electric vehicles require
a very pure version.

275
00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:21,840
Graphite is very plentiful.

276
00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:26,160
The challenges around graphite are
more of a geopolitical challenge.

277
00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:28,840
China has traditionally
been a very big producer

278
00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:32,160
of both synthetic and natural types
of graphite,

279
00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:36,760
and it's also really the base,
the hub for graphite processing,

280
00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:38,560
for the use in the anode.

281
00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:45,960
The war in Ukraine has shown
how geopolitics

282
00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:49,720
can cause huge shock waves in the
price of energy and raw materials.

283
00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:58,720
Currently, China processes over 60%
of the world's lithium

284
00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:01,720
and 70% of the graphite,

285
00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:05,560
producing 80% of the world's
batteries themselves.

286
00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:09,480
Any conflict involving China

287
00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:13,240
could impact the cost and supply
of electric cars.

288
00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:18,760
Are we going to be able to find
enough materials to make the number

289
00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:22,600
of EV batteries that we need to make
to get to net zero by 2050?

290
00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:23,960
What our numbers indicate

291
00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:26,040
is that the market
is going to fall short.

292
00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:29,120
There isn't going to be enough
raw material to meet demand.

293
00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:32,760
The fact that it takes 10 to 15
years to start a new mine,

294
00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:36,360
if we want to be getting material
for batteries,

295
00:18:36,360 --> 00:18:38,760
we need to start planning
those mines now.

296
00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:41,560
So it's really urgent
that this is addressed.

297
00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:45,120
Cylindrical batteries like these

298
00:18:45,120 --> 00:18:48,800
lie at the heart of electrifying
the transport system.

299
00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:52,400
As we've seen, making them
is a complicated process.

300
00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:54,440
It requires precision engineering

301
00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:58,560
and relies on unreliable
and expensive supply chains.

302
00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:02,960
We are going to need billions
of lithium ion batteries every year

303
00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:04,480
in the UK alone.

304
00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:14,040
So should the world be betting
the future of motoring

305
00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:15,960
on such uncertainty?

306
00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:19,600
Hi, Chris. How are you doing?
Good to see you.

307
00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:23,000
Chris Stark is the CEO of
the Climate Change Committee,

308
00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:26,640
set up by the Government to offer
independent expert advice

309
00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:28,240
on its climate goals.

310
00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:33,080
The committee was instrumental
in getting the Government

311
00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:36,080
to adopt those targets
in the first place.

312
00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:38,000
OK? Good to go? Right.

313
00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:40,520
So what is at stake here?

314
00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:44,240
Well, there's lots at stake.
So the top issue is the climate.

315
00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:46,200
We need not just the UK
to hit net zero,

316
00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:47,880
we need every country
to hit net zero.

317
00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:50,400
And, remember, until that happens,
the world keeps warming.

318
00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:53,640
So the key thing
when it comes to electric vehicles

319
00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:55,160
is they have to become mass-market.

320
00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:57,600
But there is another big hurdle,
and that is

321
00:19:57,600 --> 00:19:59,200
these cars are very expensive.

322
00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:01,440
Yeah. Supply chain costs
have gone up.

323
00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:03,720
That's very, very linked to
what's happening with

324
00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:06,360
the Russian invasion of Ukraine
and overall energy prices.

325
00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:08,280
We have to see cheaper vehicles.

326
00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:12,000
We have to see a second-hand market
as well. That's all coming.

327
00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:14,640
I think it's OK at the moment
for these vehicles

328
00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:17,440
still to be expensive,
to be a premium product.

329
00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:21,720
But it won't happen en masse until
we can actually say confidently

330
00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:24,760
that this is a car you can drive
that is more cheap to run

331
00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:28,400
and equivalent cost price
to purchase.

332
00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:30,400
And I'm confident that'll come.

333
00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:32,120
But of course,
fine for me to say that -

334
00:20:32,120 --> 00:20:34,360
the general public
needs to feel that way too.

335
00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:41,640
For the transition
to electric cars to work,

336
00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:44,560
people need to want to buy them.

337
00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:47,560
Apart from the cost,
the other main reason people give

338
00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:50,920
for not going electric
is fears about charging.

339
00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:57,720
I've been driving an electric car
for a few years now

340
00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:00,000
and I've got a charging point
at home,

341
00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:02,720
which means I can stick it
on charge overnight,

342
00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:05,600
and for those shorter journeys
into town and back,

343
00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:07,640
I'm not worrying about
having to recharge.

344
00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:10,880
Gone are the days of nipping
to the petrol station

345
00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:12,360
to fill up with fuel.

346
00:21:12,360 --> 00:21:14,880
And when you think that
two-thirds of households

347
00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:16,920
actually have off-street parking,

348
00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:22,160
having an electric car actually fits
into our lifestyles really well.

349
00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:27,640
If you can't charge in your drive
or garage,

350
00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:31,080
you're going to need to charge
on the street or on a forecourt.

351
00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:36,200
And because charging can take
so long, you need that charger

352
00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:38,080
to be near your house.

353
00:21:40,360 --> 00:21:44,360
Which means we need hundreds
of thousands of public chargers

354
00:21:44,360 --> 00:21:47,840
spread around the country,
especially in cities.

355
00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:53,600
There are currently around 44,000
public chargers in the UK.

356
00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:58,000
It sounds like a lot, but a third
of them are in London.

357
00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:03,360
If you take Westminster,
there are more chargers there

358
00:22:03,360 --> 00:22:06,080
than there are in cities like
my hometown of Manchester,

359
00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:09,880
Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool
and Newcastle combined.

360
00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:14,880
And this problem
is not getting any better.

361
00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:21,120
In 2020, there were 16 cars
for every public charger.

362
00:22:21,120 --> 00:22:24,520
Now it's estimated to be 32.

363
00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:27,280
This is the BMW...

364
00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:31,800
If sales of electric cars continue
to outpace the number of chargers,

365
00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:33,960
this can only get worse.

366
00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:40,520
Central government does not
co-ordinate installation.

367
00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:44,400
Instead, dozens of private companies
apply for licences

368
00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:47,080
from different councils
around the country.

369
00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:53,000
Mark Constable works for one
of them - Trojan Energy.

370
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:55,280
Hi. How are you doing?
Hi, Michelle, how you doing?

371
00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:57,240
Nice to meet you.
Yeah, very good, thank you.

372
00:22:57,240 --> 00:22:59,120
It's all happening, isn't it?
It is.

373
00:22:59,120 --> 00:23:02,400
We've got 34 of these streets dotted
around the borough at the moment

374
00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:05,400
where we're installing
about 500 charge points in total.

375
00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:07,840
There's 15 going in on this street.

376
00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:12,520
The challenge charging companies
face is huge.

377
00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:15,200
In the next ten years, we've got
to deliver ten times the amount

378
00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:17,960
of infrastructure that's been
delivered in the last ten years.

379
00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:19,840
Is that realistic?
Do you think that can happen?

380
00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:21,280
I think it can happen, but I think

381
00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:23,320
there are some things
that need to be clarified.

382
00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:26,840
All of the councils in the UK
are kind of having to work through

383
00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:29,880
a set of rules and regulations
that weren't designed

384
00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:32,240
for this type of works in mind.

385
00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:34,400
This is a brand-new challenge
for the council.

386
00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:39,400
If you wanted to replicate
this whole process

387
00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:41,360
a bit further down the road,
would you have to

388
00:23:41,360 --> 00:23:43,520
start from scratch again?
Yeah. Yeah, we would.

389
00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:45,000
Roughly how long could it take,
then?

390
00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:47,920
Up to a year, possibly even more
than a year between, you know,

391
00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:50,800
presenting an idea to a council
and having them decide upon

392
00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:52,960
whether they want to go ahead
with it or not.

393
00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:55,880
It certainly doesn't help with the
target if it's going to take a year

394
00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:58,920
to a couple of years for every
council to make a decision.

395
00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:00,400
That's a long old process.

396
00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:06,920
Each of these installation
companies has its own system.

397
00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:09,720
Trojan has gone for
a novel approach.

398
00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:12,000
So, Michelle,
this is what we call the lance.

399
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:15,640
It's a lightweight metal tube
with a standard EV charging cable.

400
00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:18,480
Customers are issued with
their own connector

401
00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:21,880
that can hook into electric cables
under the street.

402
00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:27,320
If you point the cable
towards the road... Yeah.

403
00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:30,520
..and hover the lance
so that the bottom

404
00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:34,360
lines up with the steel disc
on the charge point.

405
00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:36,640
Do I have to press it?
Oh, I've pressed it down...

406
00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:39,040
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Now press it all the way down.

407
00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:41,240
Oh, it's stuck. Yeah. That's good.

408
00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:44,760
So the light's turned blue. Yeah.
So that's in. OK.

409
00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:47,080
There you go. So all I need to do
is just plug this in?

410
00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:49,280
Yeah, absolutely.

411
00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:50,520
That's it.

412
00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:53,040
And now charging should just start.

413
00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:56,400
So you can see the charging icon
has popped up on the dashboard.

414
00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:01,920
Currently, installers are putting in

415
00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:05,160
a record 2,000 chargers a month
into the ground.

416
00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:09,640
The rate of installation
needs to increase,

417
00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:14,120
or by 2030
there'll be a 100,000 shortfall

418
00:25:14,120 --> 00:25:17,400
from the Government target
of 300,000.

419
00:25:19,120 --> 00:25:21,880
So what are the bottlenecks?

420
00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:24,440
The challenge is that there
are round about 200

421
00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:26,160
local authorities in the UK.

422
00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:27,760
That's 200 sets of people

423
00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:30,040
that we have to demonstrate
the technology to,

424
00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:33,000
prove that it's safe, prove that
it's not a risk to anyone.

425
00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:36,120
Planning permission, permission
from the council to dig the holes

426
00:25:36,120 --> 00:25:39,680
and actually install the equipment
to actually do the work.

427
00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:45,560
And then some councils also want us
to have a Section 115 permit,

428
00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:48,720
which is effectively
a licence to make money

429
00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:50,040
from the public highway.

430
00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:53,840
And we need one permit for every set
of charge points we put in.

431
00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:56,280
If we want to install 500
charge points, in some cases

432
00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:58,640
it's 500 licences. Wow.

433
00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:02,080
That doesn't seem like a very
streamlined approach to me, Mark.

434
00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:08,080
The Government says
it has told local authorities

435
00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:12,040
they have to develop their own plans
for putting in chargers.

436
00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:14,480
So while most people can charge
at home,

437
00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:18,720
there are big regional disparities
in the number of charging points.

438
00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:22,280
It acknowledges that planning issues
can be complex.

439
00:26:24,120 --> 00:26:28,400
But the Government says the rate
of installation IS going up.

440
00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:31,400
That's crucial,
because if the charging network

441
00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:33,760
doesn't keep up with demand,

442
00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:37,400
it could undermine the transition
to electric vehicles.

443
00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:46,960
I talk to loads of people
about electric vehicles

444
00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:50,680
and there's still
a really strong perception

445
00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:53,320
that they're just more trouble
than they're worth.

446
00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:00,240
I had to try six times

447
00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:03,040
with a pre-authorisation
of £50 a time.

448
00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:09,320
The further out you go, there aren't
always charging stations.

449
00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:16,560
I do understand why lots of people
are anxious about things like range

450
00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:19,480
and where they're going to charge
and how much it's all going to cost

451
00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:21,200
and what happens to the battery.

452
00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:23,880
But those perceptions
have to be dealt with

453
00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:25,880
if we're going to make
this big switchover

454
00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:27,240
that the Government wants.

455
00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:33,400
Surveys show the majority
of people who own electric vehicles

456
00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:35,240
are broadly happy with them.

457
00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:39,120
The trouble is, one person's
bad experience

458
00:27:39,120 --> 00:27:43,360
makes a much better story than
thousands of satisfied customers.

459
00:27:43,360 --> 00:27:46,000
Hey, Giles, how are you doing?
All right. Good to see you.

460
00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:47,840
Is this one of your favourites?
Yeah, yeah.

461
00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:51,720
Giles Coren is a broadcaster,
a newspaper columnist,

462
00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:55,280
and an early adopter
of electric vehicles.

463
00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:58,240
My wife had been saying, because of
all these journeys, really,

464
00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:01,240
that we'd had, "One more and we've
had it - none of your eco nonsense."

465
00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:02,960
And this was the time.

466
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:06,040
This year,
Giles wrote a column for The Times

467
00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:09,720
saying he'd had such an awful time
with his electric car

468
00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:11,960
that he was going to hand it back.

469
00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:16,640
Let's cut to the chase.
You didn't like it. I think

470
00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:18,160
Times readers, delighted to hear

471
00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:20,160
that I'd had this terrible
experience with it.

472
00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:23,400
It really was
my most commented-on column.

473
00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:25,400
Be honest.
I mean, you're a columnist.

474
00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:27,040
It's your job to have opinions.

475
00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:29,960
Were you fair to electric cars?
Absolutely.

476
00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:32,240
So they say you've got,
with the seven-kilowatt-hour

477
00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:34,920
off-street parking thing,
it'll charge in ten hours overnight.

478
00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:37,600
I don't know whether it's true
cos I don't have off-street parking,

479
00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:39,680
cos I'm not a billionaire,
and only rich people

480
00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:42,040
have off-street parking in a city.
I mean, I do all right,

481
00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:44,400
but I live in a terraced
Victorian house, and you know,

482
00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:46,640
I had to run cables
across the pavement - illegal.

483
00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:52,120
Although the range of
electric vehicles is increasing,

484
00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:54,680
for Giles, the real problem
with his car came

485
00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:57,320
when he needed to go on
a long journey.

486
00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:04,280
I should be able to take this car
across the country without worry,

487
00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:07,800
but I can't, because there aren't
enough charging facilities

488
00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:09,040
across the country.

489
00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:13,040
Attempting to get from Littlehampton
on the south coast

490
00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:15,080
home to Tunbridge Wells,

491
00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:19,680
seven chargers were not working.

492
00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:24,360
There's basically only a few places
you can actually get charging

493
00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:27,560
and then half the time
they're full up.

494
00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:31,960
So you have to either wait for,
like, 30 minutes or even longer...

495
00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:35,200
We go on holiday in, like, Wales
and Devon cos we're eco people,

496
00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:36,880
we decided we won't fly any more.

497
00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:40,200
You pull into a service station
and they're all broken.

498
00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:42,960
And then you go on to the next one,
Exeter, that's got ten chargers,

499
00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:44,600
but it's got 40 people waiting.

500
00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:47,080
Do you stay? Do you wait?
How long will it be?

501
00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:48,480
After queuing for three hours

502
00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:50,680
with all the other furious
electric car owners,

503
00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:52,760
just looking over at
the people at the petrol ones

504
00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:55,560
just going "glug, glug, glug",
and they're on - so jealous of them.

505
00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:57,760
People in rusty old bangers
filling up with diesel.

506
00:29:57,760 --> 00:29:59,440
"We've had it, we're going back
to petrol."

507
00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:04,200
Obviously there is still a shortage
of chargers, but that will change,

508
00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:06,320
Giles, as they invest
in the new technology.

509
00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:07,840
If they do, absolutely marvellous.

510
00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:10,720
Then I'll buy another one, and I'll
come back to it. It's brilliant.

511
00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:13,760
We obviously have to change. We have
to get to net zero, we have to save

512
00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:15,920
the planet.
2030 was a really good idea.

513
00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:18,720
But it's overoptimistic. It cannot
be done with the infrastructure

514
00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:21,960
that exists now, the pace, even if
we accelerate that we're going now,

515
00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:24,640
and the cars that we have, we will
have a better chance of making it

516
00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:27,120
if we go back to horses. Horses?

517
00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:33,360
Well, that was really interesting.

518
00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:35,160
But Giles is a columnist.

519
00:30:35,160 --> 00:30:38,200
It's his job to have strong
opinions, and I'm not sure

520
00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:41,760
that electric vehicles are anywhere
near as bad as he says.

521
00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:43,120
But here's the thing.

522
00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:44,800
If people think they are,

523
00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:47,920
that is a huge problem
for the industry.

524
00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:57,640
So what's stopping us
simply building loads

525
00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:00,360
of high speed chargers
to replace garages

526
00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:03,200
and service stations
around the country?

527
00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:05,760
I travel to Braintree in Essex
for a vision

528
00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:08,960
of a clean, electric future.

529
00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:10,680
Oh, wow.

530
00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:13,800
Look at all these spaces.

531
00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:16,320
It's like a charging heaven.

532
00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:24,120
Step one, plug in your vehicle.

533
00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:26,640
That's easy enough.

534
00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:29,600
Tap contactless cards or device.

535
00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:34,000
Card accepted, starting. That is it.

536
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:35,800
Time for a coffee.

537
00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:40,800
This is Britain's very first
electric forecourt.

538
00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:47,240
Well, this looks very smart.

539
00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:49,720
As far as a service station goes,
you've got everything

540
00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:51,160
you need here.

541
00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:52,720
Grab a coffee.

542
00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:54,760
Shop.

543
00:31:54,760 --> 00:31:57,000
There's even a post office.

544
00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:01,480
This site is owned and operated
by Gridserve.

545
00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:08,960
Toddington, hello. Nice to meet you.

546
00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:12,400
Toddington Harper is the founder
and CEO.

547
00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:16,200
So we have 36 chargers
at this location and it's designed

548
00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:19,160
to make driving and charging
electric cars just as easy

549
00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:21,080
as a petrol and diesel car,
but actually

550
00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:22,880
with a much better experience.

551
00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:29,200
He's also trying to address
another great concern.

552
00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:31,120
How long the charging takes.

553
00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:34,000
Because when you're on a long
journey, you don't want

554
00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:36,160
to be hanging around.

555
00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:40,240
One thing that I've definitely
noticed, driving an electric car,

556
00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:42,880
when I'm charging,
I want a rapid charger.

557
00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:45,480
It's so important.

558
00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:49,520
At home, charging your car
takes around eight hours.

559
00:32:49,520 --> 00:32:53,840
Here, they can take as little
as 40 minutes.

560
00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:58,040
They even have a state of the art
ultra-fast charger that can charge

561
00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:00,240
a car in less than 15 minutes.

562
00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:02,520
Theoretically.

563
00:33:02,520 --> 00:33:06,360
The only problem is
my car can't take it yet.

564
00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:09,520
In fact, there aren't many that can.

565
00:33:10,600 --> 00:33:13,240
350 kilowatts is
a future-proofed charger.

566
00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:15,840
In probably two or three years,
there are cars that will be able

567
00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:17,840
to take that level of power.

568
00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:21,880
But there's another bigger problem.

569
00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:25,120
This charging station
is on an A-road in Essex.

570
00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:29,000
Great if you're travelling between
Bishop's Stortford and Colchester.

571
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:33,560
But why not put it on the much
busier M11 just 15 miles away?

572
00:33:33,560 --> 00:33:35,560
On the right-hand side,

573
00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:38,240
that's the connection
to the National Grid.

574
00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:42,800
Part of the answer is that you need
a huge electricity supply.

575
00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:47,200
So this is a five-megawatt
grid connection, which can produce

576
00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:52,160
enough energy every hour for around
20,000 miles of EV charging.

577
00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:53,520
Right.

578
00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:59,080
Even with this high-voltage
connection, he's still had to build

579
00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:02,080
what looks like
a mini power station.

580
00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:05,080
These containers, they're
actually all full of batteries.

581
00:34:05,080 --> 00:34:08,640
They're stabilising the grid.
And here we have the transformers.

582
00:34:08,640 --> 00:34:11,520
And this is a crucial problem.

583
00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:16,680
Toddington is upgrading
motorway chargers, too, but the grid

584
00:34:16,680 --> 00:34:20,000
doesn't always have the capacity
to supply the power

585
00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:22,200
his ultra-fast chargers need.

586
00:34:22,200 --> 00:34:24,720
So the grid connections
were actually only designed

587
00:34:24,720 --> 00:34:27,880
for 50 kilowatts, so we upgraded
them all with brand-new chargers

588
00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:31,000
that actually are capable
of providing up to 120

589
00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:33,640
or 180 kilowatts, but limited
by that grid connection.

590
00:34:33,640 --> 00:34:36,200
So we have to get
new grid connections in.

591
00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:37,960
That takes a lot of effort, a lot of
time.

592
00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:39,440
You've got to negotiate a lot

593
00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:43,280
of different agreements, and that's
the single thing that will delay us

594
00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:45,520
getting a site in place.

595
00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:51,120
The Government thinks we need
6,000 ultra-fast chargers

596
00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:55,600
on the country's major roads
and motorways by 2035.

597
00:34:55,600 --> 00:34:58,400
But this is currently
a long way off.

598
00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:04,640
For instance, this is one
of the busiest services on the M1.

599
00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:09,840
Unbelievably, it only has two
fast chargers on each carriageway.

600
00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:15,160
Are we going to make it?
The quicker we can get them

601
00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:17,480
in the ground, the quicker
we'll be able to give everyone

602
00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:20,480
the confidence that now is the time,
not tomorrow, not the day after,

603
00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:23,800
but today, to go and get
an electric vehicle.

604
00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:28,840
The Government has said
that the market is best placed

605
00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:32,960
to identify the right sites
for charging points, and has left it

606
00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:36,920
up to private companies
like Gridserve and Trojan.

607
00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:42,200
National Grid admits significant
network upgrades are needed to meet

608
00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:45,720
the power needs for
these rapid-charging hubs.

609
00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:51,920
They say they are working hard
to meet this increased demand,

610
00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:55,280
but have called for an overhaul
in the planning laws in order

611
00:35:55,280 --> 00:35:56,880
to meet the challenge.

612
00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:05,480
The Government has set these targets
for the introduction of EVs.

613
00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:08,840
And then this cliff edge, where
the sale of non-electric vehicles

614
00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:11,960
is going to be banned. And then, it
appears to just leave it

615
00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:14,800
to the private companies to kind
of make the arrangements.

616
00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:17,440
Is that sufficient?
No, it's not sufficient.

617
00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:20,120
And to give the Government
some credit, they do have a plan

618
00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:23,280
to increase the number of public
chargers that we have

619
00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:25,200
in this country quite significantly.

620
00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:27,760
But it's quite difficult
to know how that plan

621
00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:30,360
will be delivered. Planning
does make it really difficult.

622
00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:32,960
And we don't have a planning system
that's set up for net zero

623
00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:34,920
in the round. This is
one of the challenges.

624
00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:38,760
Why on earth isn't it happening,
cos we've got the targets there?

625
00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:40,680
So the targets are there.

626
00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:43,200
But what we don't have is
a government that's put its shoulder

627
00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:46,040
to the wheel on it. It feels like
a target that's being thrust upon

628
00:36:46,040 --> 00:36:48,160
the Government that implemented
the target.

629
00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:51,920
So we need to be enthusiastic
about this change that's coming.

630
00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:54,160
It is going to be better
for this country for us

631
00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:55,720
to drive electric vehicles.

632
00:36:55,720 --> 00:36:57,920
The thing that's holding
it up is the fact that we need

633
00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:01,480
a charging network that's in place
and fit for purpose.

634
00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:08,280
The Government says its strategic
framework will accelerate

635
00:37:08,280 --> 00:37:13,600
the roll-out of high-powered
chargers through their £950 million

636
00:37:13,600 --> 00:37:16,200
Rapid Charging Fund.

637
00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:20,880
At best, it feels like it's going
to be a rocky road to replace

638
00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:24,600
30 million cars
with electric vehicles.

639
00:37:24,600 --> 00:37:27,280
But is there an alternative,

640
00:37:27,280 --> 00:37:30,720
a different technology
that could smooth this transition

641
00:37:30,720 --> 00:37:33,080
while staying sustainable?

642
00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:41,880
Look at this.

643
00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:44,320
Wow. It is beautiful.

644
00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:49,520
Oh!
Am I really going to do this?

645
00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:51,960
Am I going to get in?

646
00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:53,840
I think I will.

647
00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:01,840
Hi, Paddy. I'm Tara.
Hi, Tara. Great to meet you.

648
00:38:14,480 --> 00:38:17,520
Oh, my God, it feels so fast,
doesn't it?

649
00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:20,520
Like, the car is so low
to the ground and everything.

650
00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:23,800
Yeah, I think that's
the nice part about it, yeah.

651
00:38:27,680 --> 00:38:29,040
SHE SQUEALS WITH DELIGHT

652
00:38:31,720 --> 00:38:34,400
This feels - like,
this feels fast. Very fast.

653
00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:37,040
How many are we going? Like, 70mph.

654
00:38:37,040 --> 00:38:38,520
Woo!

655
00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:40,560
Run out of road. Whoa!

656
00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:45,800
Paddy Lowe,
former executive director

657
00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:49,120
at the Mercedes Formula 1 team,
is trying to convince me

658
00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:51,840
that this car is actually green.

659
00:38:56,720 --> 00:38:59,520
We are driving guilt-free...
Guilt-free.

660
00:38:59,520 --> 00:39:01,200
..from the point of view of the
fuel.

661
00:39:01,200 --> 00:39:03,400
Oh, I don't believe you!
I don't believe you.

662
00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:06,200
You'll have prove it to me.
We'll go to the lab and show you

663
00:39:06,200 --> 00:39:08,960
how it's done. OK, OK, great.
Thank you.

664
00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:15,280
This beautiful vintage
1968 E-Type Jag

665
00:39:15,280 --> 00:39:16,840
runs on petrol.

666
00:39:16,840 --> 00:39:20,880
But it is actually synthetic petrol.

667
00:39:22,920 --> 00:39:26,840
His team used advanced chemistry
to make the petrol out of hydrogen

668
00:39:26,840 --> 00:39:31,120
from water, and carbon dioxide
from the air.

669
00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:36,560
So you've made this petrol
out of thin air?

670
00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:38,920
Exactly. Air and water.
Air and water.

671
00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:41,160
Can you tell me more about
how you make it?

672
00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:44,920
Let's walk over here.
So these are hydrogen electrolysers.

673
00:39:44,920 --> 00:39:47,160
First of all, need to make hydrogen.

674
00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:50,240
So, you put in water, which is H2O.

675
00:39:50,240 --> 00:39:54,720
Yeah. And you split it out, you
split out the O, the O2, oxygen.

676
00:39:54,720 --> 00:39:56,480
Yeah. It comes out there.

677
00:39:56,480 --> 00:39:59,160
And the hydrogen. And then,
the next component we need is?

678
00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:00,880
Then we need carbon.

679
00:40:00,880 --> 00:40:03,520
We're trying to capture
that from the atmosphere.

680
00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:07,240
How do you do that? You have to pump
a huge amount of air through

681
00:40:07,240 --> 00:40:10,680
an absorbent, which picks up
the carbon dioxide.

682
00:40:10,680 --> 00:40:14,840
You've made hydrogen - here
in this building - and carbon.

683
00:40:14,840 --> 00:40:19,680
Yeah. So what turns those
two gases into synthetic fuels?

684
00:40:19,680 --> 00:40:22,680
We're going to conduct a process
called Fischer-Tropsch.

685
00:40:22,680 --> 00:40:25,240
Essentially, Fischer-Tropsch
is the combination of hydrogen

686
00:40:25,240 --> 00:40:28,480
and carbon to create hydrocarbons.

687
00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:33,080
This process has actually been
known about for over 100 years.

688
00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:36,880
The Germans used it
during the Second World War.

689
00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:40,400
But with vast supplies of oil
available to us, there hasn't

690
00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:43,200
been much call for it until now.

691
00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:47,680
In essence, when we use
this fuel and burn it,

692
00:40:47,680 --> 00:40:50,200
we still release carbon dioxide.

693
00:40:50,200 --> 00:40:53,640
So in that way, how is it
a solution to climate change?

694
00:40:53,640 --> 00:40:58,280
When you burn this fuel, you put
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

695
00:40:58,280 --> 00:41:01,480
But when I make the fuel again,
I reabsorb that.

696
00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:03,160
So it's completely balanced.

697
00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:08,880
Can this compete, in terms of cost,
with fossil hydrocarbons? Yes.

698
00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:13,200
And what does it cost right now?
It will be perhaps six, seven times

699
00:41:13,200 --> 00:41:15,000
the price of fossil fuel.

700
00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:19,240
This is the answer, and we just have
to work at it to drive down cost.

701
00:41:19,240 --> 00:41:22,360
Synthetic petrol does sound
attractive,

702
00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:25,680
but it's hugely expensive,

703
00:41:25,680 --> 00:41:28,080
still produces pollutants,

704
00:41:28,080 --> 00:41:32,160
and needs massive amounts
of electricity to manufacture.

705
00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:36,320
So it may not play a major role
in the net zero future of driving.

706
00:41:43,160 --> 00:41:46,360
Now, this is a more everyday option,

707
00:41:46,360 --> 00:41:50,120
and it runs on an entirely different
kind of fuel.

708
00:41:50,120 --> 00:41:53,040
Hi, Claire. Hi, there.
Tell me, what is this?

709
00:41:53,040 --> 00:41:55,440
So this is a hydrogen-powered car.

710
00:41:55,440 --> 00:41:58,320
It's a little bit like a battery
electric car in that it has

711
00:41:58,320 --> 00:42:01,040
an electric drive train
and has zero emissions.

712
00:42:01,040 --> 00:42:03,440
Only instead of being powered
by a battery, it's powered

713
00:42:03,440 --> 00:42:06,280
by a hydrogen fuel cell.
So can I see this fuel cell?

714
00:42:06,280 --> 00:42:09,400
Can we take a look? Absolutely.
Let's have a look, shall we?

715
00:42:09,400 --> 00:42:10,920
So there it is.

716
00:42:10,920 --> 00:42:12,400
So this is where normally you'd find

717
00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:14,720
the sort of internal combustion
engine in a car.

718
00:42:14,720 --> 00:42:16,600
But here we've got
a fuel cell, which is much,

719
00:42:16,600 --> 00:42:17,680
much more exciting.

720
00:42:17,680 --> 00:42:19,640
The way that this works is it takes
oxygen,

721
00:42:19,640 --> 00:42:22,400
sucks it in from the air,
takes hydrogen from the fuel tanks,

722
00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:24,640
which are in the back of the car,
puts it through

723
00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:25,880
a sort of chemical reaction.

724
00:42:25,880 --> 00:42:27,520
And then out of that comes
electricity,

725
00:42:27,520 --> 00:42:30,880
which makes the car go,
and water out of the back end.

726
00:42:30,880 --> 00:42:33,280
Only water? Yeah, that's right.
The hydrogen, then,

727
00:42:33,280 --> 00:42:34,960
where does it go in? How?

728
00:42:34,960 --> 00:42:37,840
Well, actually, it'll look again,
very familiar to you

729
00:42:37,840 --> 00:42:40,280
if you drive a sort
of petrol or diesel car,

730
00:42:40,280 --> 00:42:42,440
is it comes through
the fuel cap here.

731
00:42:42,440 --> 00:42:45,520
So what you basically do is you
clip on the refuelling, you push

732
00:42:45,520 --> 00:42:48,480
the button, it takes three or four
minutes to refuel and then I get

733
00:42:48,480 --> 00:42:51,240
about 380 miles out of this. Wow!
Mm.

734
00:42:56,760 --> 00:43:01,040
Unlike the E-Type,
it drives, well, very ordinarily.

735
00:43:02,120 --> 00:43:03,480
Oh!

736
00:43:03,480 --> 00:43:08,120
Very smooth. Yeah!

737
00:43:08,120 --> 00:43:10,680
Again, it's very similar
to the battery cars in that

738
00:43:10,680 --> 00:43:12,400
there's no real noise.

739
00:43:12,400 --> 00:43:14,880
I mean, in terms of driving,
it feels like an electric car.

740
00:43:14,880 --> 00:43:17,120
Mm-hm. Yeah, it's exactly the same.

741
00:43:18,920 --> 00:43:21,480
How much does hydrogen cost?
Can it be cost-competitive?

742
00:43:21,480 --> 00:43:23,840
At the moment to refuel this car,

743
00:43:23,840 --> 00:43:26,400
it costs about the same
as petrol or diesel.

744
00:43:26,400 --> 00:43:29,760
Really? Yeah. Hydrogen's a
little bit like where offshore wind

745
00:43:29,760 --> 00:43:31,080
was ten years ago.

746
00:43:31,080 --> 00:43:33,360
And that's why it
needs to go through the same journey

747
00:43:33,360 --> 00:43:35,560
that offshore wind went
through, where it was supported

748
00:43:35,560 --> 00:43:37,960
by the Government to get cost down
and scale up,

749
00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:41,080
to the point where it can be
used affordably for a number

750
00:43:41,080 --> 00:43:42,720
of different applications.

751
00:43:42,720 --> 00:43:46,200
What do you think would be the real
game-changing

752
00:43:46,200 --> 00:43:50,320
uses of hydrogen, then,
particularly in transport, say?

753
00:43:50,320 --> 00:43:53,160
The general rule of thumb
is that the larger the vehicle,

754
00:43:53,160 --> 00:43:56,000
the more efficient it is to use
hydrogen, and the smaller

755
00:43:56,000 --> 00:43:58,920
the vehicle, the more efficient
it is to use batteries.

756
00:43:58,920 --> 00:44:01,960
So the areas where we're really
looking to deploy hydrogen,

757
00:44:01,960 --> 00:44:04,360
where hydrogen will be the
predominant technology,

758
00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:08,120
are areas like aviation,
so the planes, and maritime,

759
00:44:08,120 --> 00:44:10,000
like ships, and lorries

760
00:44:10,000 --> 00:44:13,480
and HGVs, and potentially,
trains and double decker buses.

761
00:44:13,480 --> 00:44:16,680
Hydrogen will really play a massive
role in decarbonising those parts

762
00:44:16,680 --> 00:44:18,480
of the energy system.

763
00:44:20,320 --> 00:44:25,080
Hydrogen may be the answer for some
of our transport needs.

764
00:44:26,280 --> 00:44:30,520
Germany has fleets of trains
running on hydrogen.

765
00:44:30,520 --> 00:44:35,040
There are a few hydrogen lorries
on our roads already.

766
00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:37,880
But the hydrogen
needs to be produced.

767
00:44:37,880 --> 00:44:42,480
And to do that sustainably, you need
lots of green electricity.

768
00:44:44,280 --> 00:44:47,080
For most uses, it's way
more efficient just to put

769
00:44:47,080 --> 00:44:49,560
that straight into an electric car.

770
00:44:58,400 --> 00:45:01,600
The Government plan to ban
petrol and diesel cars

771
00:45:01,600 --> 00:45:06,880
has huge implications, even beyond
the way we all get around.

772
00:45:06,880 --> 00:45:11,600
The traditional car industry
is worth £14 billion a year

773
00:45:11,600 --> 00:45:13,760
to the British economy.

774
00:45:13,760 --> 00:45:17,520
By 2030, it isn't going to have
a market in the UK any more,

775
00:45:17,520 --> 00:45:19,840
unless it goes electric.

776
00:45:23,240 --> 00:45:27,120
Effectively, a whole new industry
needs to be created.

777
00:45:27,120 --> 00:45:30,080
But will it stay in Britain?

778
00:45:30,080 --> 00:45:35,600
This place is Ford's famous Dagenham
plant, and it was opened way back

779
00:45:35,600 --> 00:45:41,240
in 1931, when this guy, Henry Ford,
was still around.

780
00:45:46,840 --> 00:45:50,760
Ford is an American company,
but its plant at Dagenham

781
00:45:50,760 --> 00:45:56,040
has been at the heart of the British
car industry for nearly 100 years.

782
00:45:59,400 --> 00:46:03,520
They gave up assembling cars here
more than 20 years ago.

783
00:46:09,800 --> 00:46:14,240
Instead, they make hundreds
of thousands of engines.

784
00:46:16,200 --> 00:46:18,400
Diesel engines.

785
00:46:22,160 --> 00:46:24,600
This huge plant
is an important employer.

786
00:46:24,600 --> 00:46:26,840
About 2,000 people work here,

787
00:46:26,840 --> 00:46:30,640
crucial jobs in quite a deprived
part of the country.

788
00:46:37,120 --> 00:46:41,200
Two ferries a day depart
from here exporting engines

789
00:46:41,200 --> 00:46:42,560
to mainland Europe.

790
00:46:45,400 --> 00:46:48,840
So that lorry's taking on
the engines from the plant,

791
00:46:48,840 --> 00:46:51,560
£2 billion worth a year.

792
00:46:51,560 --> 00:46:53,400
It's amazing to watch.

793
00:46:56,960 --> 00:47:01,400
But there is a death sentence
hanging over Dagenham.

794
00:47:04,080 --> 00:47:05,760
HORN HONKS

795
00:47:07,560 --> 00:47:11,920
Well, there she goes off to Europe
with her cargo of engines

796
00:47:11,920 --> 00:47:15,440
and this electric car revolution
that we're in the middle of

797
00:47:15,440 --> 00:47:18,040
is such a huge issue for the car
industry.

798
00:47:18,040 --> 00:47:20,000
Such a massive change.

799
00:47:20,000 --> 00:47:23,200
And if we get it wrong, well,
it could mean the end of one

800
00:47:23,200 --> 00:47:25,480
of Britain's biggest businesses.

801
00:47:26,600 --> 00:47:30,840
More than 800,000 people
work in jobs connected

802
00:47:30,840 --> 00:47:32,520
to the UK car industry.

803
00:47:36,080 --> 00:47:41,200
So it is vital for the UK to ensure
it continues to thrive.

804
00:47:44,360 --> 00:47:48,360
The net zero targets should mean
new green jobs.

805
00:47:52,080 --> 00:47:55,920
But the problem is the transition
is extremely costly.

806
00:47:58,320 --> 00:48:02,120
And the competition is fierce.

807
00:48:03,320 --> 00:48:07,320
Billions of dollars in investment to
make electric vehicles and battery

808
00:48:07,320 --> 00:48:09,920
and electric charging stations
all across America...

809
00:48:09,920 --> 00:48:11,640
..made in America.

810
00:48:14,440 --> 00:48:16,680
As part of their net zero strategy,

811
00:48:16,680 --> 00:48:21,280
the US government has offered
$20 billion in loans and grants

812
00:48:21,280 --> 00:48:24,800
to encourage local electric
vehicle manufacturing.

813
00:48:26,440 --> 00:48:31,200
The Chinese government has invested
more than $130 billion,

814
00:48:31,200 --> 00:48:33,680
and it started in 2009.

815
00:48:33,680 --> 00:48:38,240
At the moment, our government's net
zero industrial strategy

816
00:48:38,240 --> 00:48:43,120
for electric cars is much
less ambitious.

817
00:48:46,520 --> 00:48:51,080
Emma Butcher is from the Society
of Motor Manufacturers and Traders,

818
00:48:51,080 --> 00:48:53,720
which represents the UK
car industry.

819
00:48:54,920 --> 00:48:57,760
The investment that is on offer
elsewhere in the world is quite

820
00:48:57,760 --> 00:48:59,720
frankly incredibly attractive.

821
00:48:59,720 --> 00:49:02,640
So it does make companies
think twice when they come

822
00:49:02,640 --> 00:49:04,200
to make their investment decisions.

823
00:49:04,200 --> 00:49:08,960
We are at a critical moment in terms
of attracting investment to the UK.

824
00:49:08,960 --> 00:49:11,600
If we're not able to attract
it here in the next couple of years,

825
00:49:11,600 --> 00:49:13,160
it may well be too late.

826
00:49:14,880 --> 00:49:18,360
In particular, we need to build
batteries.

827
00:49:19,440 --> 00:49:24,640
They're the single most valuable
part of an electric vehicle.

828
00:49:24,640 --> 00:49:29,960
China has more than 100
large battery or gigafactories.

829
00:49:29,960 --> 00:49:33,520
And Europe
is well into double figures.

830
00:49:33,520 --> 00:49:37,200
We have one.

831
00:49:38,600 --> 00:49:42,400
By 2030, if we're going to be
producing a million electric cars

832
00:49:42,400 --> 00:49:46,880
here, then we're going to need 60
gigawatt hours of battery production

833
00:49:46,880 --> 00:49:49,320
capacity within the UK in order
to produce

834
00:49:49,320 --> 00:49:51,280
a million battery electric vehicles.

835
00:49:51,280 --> 00:49:52,720
How much have we got now?

836
00:49:52,720 --> 00:49:57,240
Today we have two gigawatt
hours... So we need 58 more.

837
00:49:57,240 --> 00:50:01,520
We do. We've got, you know, like 3%
of what we need and we've got

838
00:50:01,520 --> 00:50:06,480
six-and-a-half years to build
58 gigawatts of capacity.

839
00:50:08,760 --> 00:50:11,680
And without new battery factories,

840
00:50:11,680 --> 00:50:15,400
there's not much incentive for
carmakers like Ford

841
00:50:15,400 --> 00:50:18,080
to expand production here either.

842
00:50:19,400 --> 00:50:21,680
We need these batteries.

843
00:50:21,680 --> 00:50:25,680
We're going to need 70,000 skilled
people just to make batteries,

844
00:50:25,680 --> 00:50:29,280
produce those gigafactories
to make sure that the value

845
00:50:29,280 --> 00:50:32,600
in those batteries comes
from the UK.

846
00:50:33,720 --> 00:50:38,040
Two years ago, Britain
did have a spectacular plan to kick

847
00:50:38,040 --> 00:50:41,000
start that gigafactory revolution.

848
00:50:41,000 --> 00:50:44,640
A shiny new company called
Britishvolt promised to build

849
00:50:44,640 --> 00:50:49,360
a £3.8 billion factory near Blyth
in north-east England.

850
00:50:51,400 --> 00:50:53,600
People look back
to the Industrial Revolution.

851
00:50:53,600 --> 00:50:55,680
The north-east had an enormous role
in that.

852
00:50:55,680 --> 00:50:59,080
We deindustrialised, but
now we're re-industrialising.

853
00:50:59,080 --> 00:51:02,920
It would provide batteries
for 300,000 cars a year,

854
00:51:02,920 --> 00:51:06,800
more than a third of all the cars
we currently produce.

855
00:51:08,200 --> 00:51:11,480
It would also provide 3,000 jobs

856
00:51:11,480 --> 00:51:13,520
and was to be a cornerstone

857
00:51:13,520 --> 00:51:16,600
of the UK's net zero revolution.

858
00:51:19,640 --> 00:51:24,320
But despite all the hype,
this gleaming example of net zero

859
00:51:24,320 --> 00:51:30,000
enterprise ended up going
disastrously wrong.

860
00:51:30,000 --> 00:51:32,720
The CEO was Orral Nadjari,

861
00:51:32,720 --> 00:51:37,280
a Swedish
entrepreneur with no experience

862
00:51:37,280 --> 00:51:39,120
in the battery industry.

863
00:51:40,360 --> 00:51:43,760
We wanted to put UK at the centre
of the world

864
00:51:43,760 --> 00:51:47,320
when it came to battery technology.
That was so exciting.

865
00:51:47,320 --> 00:51:48,640
The vision was grand.

866
00:51:48,640 --> 00:51:52,080
We put in blood, sweat and tears
into this.

867
00:51:54,040 --> 00:51:57,880
Construction started on a huge
gigaplant in Northumberland.

868
00:51:57,880 --> 00:52:03,280
Britishvolt started work in August
2021 on what was to be Britain's

869
00:52:03,280 --> 00:52:05,760
fourth largest building.

870
00:52:05,760 --> 00:52:09,120
We hope to be employing nearly
3,000 people on this site,

871
00:52:09,120 --> 00:52:11,600
and it will kick-start
this battery economy.

872
00:52:16,680 --> 00:52:20,760
Orral approached the Government
for part of the £3.8 billion

873
00:52:20,760 --> 00:52:23,080
it would take to finish the job.

874
00:52:24,320 --> 00:52:27,400
The government offered £100 million.

875
00:52:28,920 --> 00:52:32,280
When Boris Johnson announced
in the intent to give the grant

876
00:52:32,280 --> 00:52:35,200
in January, it was fantastic.

877
00:52:35,200 --> 00:52:38,960
One of the criteria to support
a industrial, large-scale project

878
00:52:38,960 --> 00:52:42,000
like this is that government
incentive.

879
00:52:42,000 --> 00:52:45,960
Is it there?
Would the Treasury sign off?

880
00:52:45,960 --> 00:52:48,840
We would have had hundreds of
millions from the capital market

881
00:52:48,840 --> 00:52:50,640
following suit.

882
00:52:52,080 --> 00:52:53,840
But that didn't happen.

883
00:52:53,840 --> 00:52:57,360
The Government final sign-off
didn't come.

884
00:52:58,720 --> 00:53:03,240
Doubts have emerged about whether
Britishvolt was up to the job.

885
00:53:04,680 --> 00:53:07,440
So, £3.8 billion project.

886
00:53:07,440 --> 00:53:09,000
And you're the CEO, right?

887
00:53:09,000 --> 00:53:12,440
You've got no experience
in batteries, Orral.

888
00:53:12,440 --> 00:53:14,440
How many people do?

889
00:53:14,440 --> 00:53:16,040
It's a novel industry.

890
00:53:17,160 --> 00:53:19,280
How many people do? In Europe?

891
00:53:21,960 --> 00:53:25,400
Then Liz Truss
became Prime Minister.

892
00:53:25,400 --> 00:53:29,280
The financial markets went
into a tailspin and Britishvolt

893
00:53:29,280 --> 00:53:31,440
backers pulled their cash.

894
00:53:31,440 --> 00:53:35,480
Britishvolt has collapsed as it
struggled to raise enough money

895
00:53:35,480 --> 00:53:36,880
to stay afloat.

896
00:53:36,880 --> 00:53:40,800
The Government also refused
to release its money.

897
00:53:40,800 --> 00:53:43,680
It's important that private
shareholders, private businesses,

898
00:53:43,680 --> 00:53:47,040
are also investing alongside the
taxpayer, cos we want to make

899
00:53:47,040 --> 00:53:50,400
sure that those projects work,
that they're good value for money.

900
00:53:50,400 --> 00:53:57,320
Orral left the business in September
2022 and construction was halted.

901
00:53:57,320 --> 00:54:01,840
The UK's gigafactory plans
lay in tatters.

902
00:54:03,200 --> 00:54:06,120
So it failed. Yes, it did.

903
00:54:06,120 --> 00:54:08,760
Absolutely devastating.

904
00:54:08,760 --> 00:54:10,920
Heart, soul,

905
00:54:10,920 --> 00:54:12,520
tears went into this project.

906
00:54:15,360 --> 00:54:21,000
Meanwhile, it's been reported that
France has offered 1.5 billion euros

907
00:54:21,000 --> 00:54:25,400
in loans to help build four
new gigafactories.

908
00:54:27,000 --> 00:54:32,280
And although Germany already has six
working gigafactories, it's said

909
00:54:32,280 --> 00:54:37,560
to be offering a billion euros in
loans to Northvolt to build more.

910
00:54:37,560 --> 00:54:41,240
Critics claim that Britain's
reluctance to put up this kind

911
00:54:41,240 --> 00:54:45,880
of huge investment to attract big
companies means we risk falling

912
00:54:45,880 --> 00:54:47,200
behind in the race.

913
00:54:48,600 --> 00:54:52,000
If we are not producing batteries
onshore,

914
00:54:52,000 --> 00:54:55,440
then we're going to lose
our car industry.

915
00:54:55,440 --> 00:54:58,320
So even if somebody else
would start today...

916
00:54:59,760 --> 00:55:02,280
..UK is going to be another
two years behind.

917
00:55:06,600 --> 00:55:09,840
The Government has said it is
positioning this country as one

918
00:55:09,840 --> 00:55:14,720
of the best places in the world
for the electric vehicle industry.

919
00:55:14,720 --> 00:55:19,120
In May this year, it was reported
that Jaguar Land Rover,

920
00:55:19,120 --> 00:55:22,000
the Indian-owned carmaker, was
planning to open

921
00:55:22,000 --> 00:55:24,040
a battery factory in Somerset

922
00:55:24,040 --> 00:55:28,160
with government backing of half
a billion pounds in loans.

923
00:55:30,160 --> 00:55:34,800
But it's estimated the UK would need
at least five more gigafactories

924
00:55:34,800 --> 00:55:36,960
to meet demand.

925
00:55:36,960 --> 00:55:40,200
And time is running out.

926
00:55:42,920 --> 00:55:46,480
Electric vehicles represent
the biggest change in the car

927
00:55:46,480 --> 00:55:50,000
industry since the Model-T
replaced the horse and cart.

928
00:55:50,000 --> 00:55:52,360
Except, of course, this time round,

929
00:55:52,360 --> 00:55:54,680
we've got a decade to do it.

930
00:55:54,680 --> 00:55:57,920
It represents a huge opportunity.

931
00:55:57,920 --> 00:56:02,120
But here in the UK, we've got a hell
of a lot of work to do.

932
00:56:04,280 --> 00:56:08,280
With net zero everywhere you look,
there is opportunity.

933
00:56:08,280 --> 00:56:14,280
The opportunity to create a clean,
modern transport system and green

934
00:56:14,280 --> 00:56:16,160
jobs in the industries
of the future.

935
00:56:16,160 --> 00:56:18,760
But there are risks, too.

936
00:56:18,760 --> 00:56:22,920
Realistically, looking at the state
of the electric car industry

937
00:56:22,920 --> 00:56:27,440
in the UK now, are we really going
to hit the targets, ban the sale

938
00:56:27,440 --> 00:56:30,400
of petrol and diesel cars by 2030?

939
00:56:30,400 --> 00:56:32,640
Seven years might not sound
a lot, but it is a lot.

940
00:56:32,640 --> 00:56:35,360
If you look at the numbers already,
we're ahead of the paths

941
00:56:35,360 --> 00:56:36,760
that we've drawn for the country.

942
00:56:36,760 --> 00:56:39,000
I just know, Chris, there'll
be people watching this going,

943
00:56:39,000 --> 00:56:41,000
"Yeah, you can say...that's easy
for you to say that.

944
00:56:41,000 --> 00:56:42,960
"I simply don't believe you.

945
00:56:42,960 --> 00:56:46,440
"I want to buy petrol and diesel
cars..." Cos it's a really

946
00:56:46,440 --> 00:56:48,280
dependable, reliable technology.

947
00:56:48,280 --> 00:56:51,440
And I'm entirely happy that people
want to continue to buy petrol

948
00:56:51,440 --> 00:56:54,040
and diesel cars. But you're not!
You want them to switch to electric!

949
00:56:54,040 --> 00:56:56,080
I want to make the transition,
but we've got to be sure

950
00:56:56,080 --> 00:56:58,200
that this thing's ready
and cost has got to come down.

951
00:56:58,200 --> 00:56:59,960
The charging network's got
to be there, too.

952
00:56:59,960 --> 00:57:02,200
It's difficult at the moment,
but I think by the time we get

953
00:57:02,200 --> 00:57:03,680
to 2030, that will not be the case.

954
00:57:03,680 --> 00:57:06,240
At least I hope
that will be the case and I can see

955
00:57:06,240 --> 00:57:07,680
a path forward now.

956
00:57:13,120 --> 00:57:17,360
There's no question electric
cars are the future.

957
00:57:17,360 --> 00:57:21,200
They're clean, they're quiet
and they are great fun to drive.

958
00:57:21,200 --> 00:57:25,200
But whoa! There are so many
hurdles in the road.

959
00:57:25,200 --> 00:57:27,880
The cars have got to be a whole
lot cheaper.

960
00:57:27,880 --> 00:57:30,400
They've got to be a whole
lot easier to charge.

961
00:57:30,400 --> 00:57:34,080
And there is a real question
about how many of them will be made

962
00:57:34,080 --> 00:57:35,760
here in the UK.

963
00:57:35,760 --> 00:57:37,240
And there's another issue.

964
00:57:37,240 --> 00:57:40,280
If electric cars are going to help
us tackle climate change,

965
00:57:40,280 --> 00:57:43,320
then the electricity that powers
them needs

966
00:57:43,320 --> 00:57:47,040
to be a whole lot greener.

967
00:57:52,840 --> 00:57:55,160
This is the home of the future.

968
00:57:55,160 --> 00:57:56,440
Next time...

969
00:57:56,440 --> 00:57:59,560
Heating our homes without gas.

970
00:57:59,560 --> 00:58:01,720
It's massive.

971
00:58:01,720 --> 00:58:04,480
Biggest onshore wind project
in England.

972
00:58:04,480 --> 00:58:09,240
We ask, can Britain produce enough
green electricity to power

973
00:58:09,240 --> 00:58:12,520
this net zero revolution?

974
00:58:12,520 --> 00:58:16,320
To find out more about
the challenges of our journey to net

975
00:58:16,320 --> 00:58:19,600
zero and what you can do to make
more of an impact, go to...

976
00:58:23,440 --> 00:58:26,440
..and follow
the link to the Open University.

977
00:59:01,800 --> 00:59:05,440
It's going to be the biggest
change in generations.

978
00:59:06,920 --> 00:59:11,880
The homes we live in,
and the cars we drive -

979
00:59:11,880 --> 00:59:13,600
all transformed.

980
00:59:16,200 --> 00:59:17,900
To slow down climate change,

981
00:59:17,900 --> 00:59:22,440
Government has promised a green
revolution - a carbon-neutral,

982
00:59:22,440 --> 00:59:25,360
net-zero future by 2050.

983
00:59:26,800 --> 00:59:28,100
Are we going to make it?

984
00:59:28,100 --> 00:59:30,640
Deadlines always move, right?
But it's good to have goals.

985
00:59:33,160 --> 00:59:36,520
I'm on my way to meet some people
who think they have the answer.

986
00:59:39,720 --> 00:59:42,640
There are all sorts of targets
to cut CO2 emissions,

987
00:59:42,640 --> 00:59:45,640
but are they remotely realistic?

988
00:59:48,560 --> 00:59:49,680
To find out,

989
00:59:49,680 --> 00:59:54,480
Michelle Ackerley investigates what
it all means for our everyday lives.

990
00:59:55,400 --> 00:59:57,560
This is an £18,000 installation.

991
00:59:57,560 --> 00:59:58,720
18? Yeah.

992
00:59:58,720 --> 01:00:01,920
That is a huge amount of money.

993
01:00:01,920 --> 01:00:06,400
Dr Tara Shine reveals the huge
scientific challenges.

994
01:00:06,400 --> 01:00:09,880
It's terrifying to think
that there are cracks in a reactor.

995
01:00:11,080 --> 01:00:13,360
Wahey! You all right?

996
01:00:13,360 --> 01:00:14,600
Oh, yes.

997
01:00:15,800 --> 01:00:19,000
I'll be putting the questions
to the people who are supposed

998
01:00:19,000 --> 01:00:20,680
to be making this happen.

999
01:00:20,680 --> 01:00:23,720
The National Grid simply
isn't fit for purpose.

1000
01:00:25,400 --> 01:00:28,800
In this episode, heating our homes.

1001
01:00:28,800 --> 01:00:34,400
It will take more than 400 years
before every British home

1002
01:00:34,400 --> 01:00:35,560
has a heat pump.

1003
01:00:37,320 --> 01:00:40,040
And powering the country.

1004
01:00:40,040 --> 01:00:43,920
This reactor has been extended
from 2014 to 2026.

1005
01:00:45,840 --> 01:00:48,680
None of this is for the benefit
of the residents.

1006
01:00:48,680 --> 01:00:51,240
None of it's for the benefit
of the environment.

1007
01:01:09,800 --> 01:01:11,400
Oh!

1008
01:01:11,400 --> 01:01:17,160
It is absolutely freezing,
minus 12 degrees Centigrade.

1009
01:01:20,440 --> 01:01:21,960
Look at the icicles!

1010
01:01:27,800 --> 01:01:29,040
Let's get inside.

1011
01:01:31,720 --> 01:01:35,240
Oh, it's blissfully warm in here.

1012
01:01:35,240 --> 01:01:36,840
Look, the lights come on
automatically.

1013
01:01:36,840 --> 01:01:39,000
This is the home of the future.

1014
01:01:39,000 --> 01:01:41,480
Even the mirror is a radiator.

1015
01:01:41,480 --> 01:01:44,960
Go in here, we've got more of
that infrared radiation

1016
01:01:44,960 --> 01:01:47,320
up here on the ceiling.

1017
01:01:47,320 --> 01:01:52,080
The skirting board is actually
a radiator and that is not all.

1018
01:01:52,080 --> 01:01:53,520
Have a look at this.

1019
01:01:55,240 --> 01:01:57,560
There's all sorts of high tech
up here.

1020
01:01:58,600 --> 01:02:00,080
Listen to this.

1021
01:02:02,240 --> 01:02:04,520
ELECTRONIC VOICE: Remember to take
your medication.

1022
01:02:04,520 --> 01:02:07,560
It even reminds you
to look after yourself.

1023
01:02:10,240 --> 01:02:11,760
This house of the future

1024
01:02:11,760 --> 01:02:14,560
is not quite ready for us
to move into, though.

1025
01:02:16,440 --> 01:02:20,760
It's actually part
of a laboratory to test new net-zero

1026
01:02:20,760 --> 01:02:24,400
house-heating technology
here at Salford University.

1027
01:02:26,520 --> 01:02:32,000
The house is full of the newest heat
pumps, heat exchangers, insulation,

1028
01:02:32,000 --> 01:02:36,160
infrared radiators
and intelligent heating systems.

1029
01:02:36,160 --> 01:02:41,360
It's been built inside a huge
warehouse so scientists can control

1030
01:02:41,360 --> 01:02:44,520
the weather - making it rain,
making it snow,

1031
01:02:44,520 --> 01:02:47,560
causing heatwaves and cold snaps

1032
01:02:47,560 --> 01:02:50,040
all at the touch of a button.

1033
01:02:51,960 --> 01:02:56,960
But a part of this vision
of the future is a heat pump,

1034
01:02:56,960 --> 01:02:59,760
a super-efficient form of
heating technology.

1035
01:02:59,760 --> 01:03:02,000
Every unit of electricity
you put in,

1036
01:03:02,000 --> 01:03:05,560
you get up to three units
of heat out. Amazing!

1037
01:03:07,400 --> 01:03:10,120
But this isn't some vision
of a distant future.

1038
01:03:10,120 --> 01:03:12,880
The Government plan is
that in 12 years' time,

1039
01:03:12,880 --> 01:03:15,640
you will not be able
to buy a gas boiler any more.

1040
01:03:15,640 --> 01:03:20,040
You will have to buy a low-carbon
alternative like a heat pump.

1041
01:03:21,280 --> 01:03:25,080
Because heat pumps are part
of the solution to the biggest

1042
01:03:25,080 --> 01:03:26,840
problem of our era...

1043
01:03:28,760 --> 01:03:30,040
..climate change.

1044
01:03:31,600 --> 01:03:35,360
The clock is ticking to the furious
rhythm of hundreds of billions

1045
01:03:35,360 --> 01:03:39,280
of pistons and turbines
and furnaces and engines

1046
01:03:39,280 --> 01:03:41,160
with which we are pumping carbon

1047
01:03:41,160 --> 01:03:44,200
into the air, quilting the earth

1048
01:03:44,200 --> 01:03:47,920
in an invisible and suffocating
blanket of CO2.

1049
01:03:49,120 --> 01:03:53,440
Four years ago, the Government
committed to what's called net zero

1050
01:03:53,440 --> 01:03:55,040
by 2050.

1051
01:03:56,600 --> 01:03:59,760
Even the definition
of net zero is controversial,

1052
01:03:59,760 --> 01:04:03,600
but broadly, it means that,
as a country, on balance,

1053
01:04:03,600 --> 01:04:08,280
we won't emit any additional
greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

1054
01:04:08,280 --> 01:04:10,360
I believe that we have a moral duty

1055
01:04:10,360 --> 01:04:14,040
to leave this world in a better
condition than what we inherited.

1056
01:04:15,400 --> 01:04:19,960
Currently, gas and oil-fuelled
central heating and hot water

1057
01:04:19,960 --> 01:04:25,680
account for as much as 14%
of the UK's emissions of CO2

1058
01:04:25,680 --> 01:04:27,160
into the atmosphere.

1059
01:04:28,800 --> 01:04:32,720
Yeah, this is natural gas.
Ooh, it's coming higher, isn't it?

1060
01:04:32,720 --> 01:04:34,000
Yes, that's right.

1061
01:04:36,040 --> 01:04:41,960
These fuels have been heating our
homes for years, with gas fires...

1062
01:04:43,440 --> 01:04:48,880
Mrs Hudson's fire is one of some 800
different kinds of gas appliances.

1063
01:04:48,880 --> 01:04:51,760
..and then by central heating.

1064
01:04:51,760 --> 01:04:53,480
Warmth when you want it.

1065
01:04:53,480 --> 01:04:56,320
Gas boilers
are the perfect heating system,

1066
01:04:56,320 --> 01:04:59,640
keeping your frozen hands cosy
in the depths of winter.

1067
01:05:02,000 --> 01:05:06,600
Now, as part of net zero,
the Government intends to ban

1068
01:05:06,600 --> 01:05:10,200
the sale of new gas boilers
from 2035.

1069
01:05:12,000 --> 01:05:15,960
People will be offered £5,000 grants
to replace their gas boilers

1070
01:05:15,960 --> 01:05:17,200
with heat pumps.

1071
01:05:19,800 --> 01:05:23,360
Heat pumps work a bit like a fridge
in reverse,

1072
01:05:23,360 --> 01:05:28,720
extracting heat from outside and
pumping it inside to heat our homes

1073
01:05:28,720 --> 01:05:30,000
and hot water.

1074
01:05:30,000 --> 01:05:34,200
Current models are three to five
times more energy-efficient

1075
01:05:34,200 --> 01:05:36,800
than traditional boilers.

1076
01:05:36,800 --> 01:05:40,600
Replacing all the UK's boilers
with heat pumps could prevent

1077
01:05:40,600 --> 01:05:44,480
the release of millions of tonnes
of greenhouse gases.

1078
01:05:45,440 --> 01:05:47,880
So a lot is riding on them.

1079
01:05:55,320 --> 01:06:00,240
Around 80% of homes in the UK use
gas or oil boilers to heat them.

1080
01:06:00,240 --> 01:06:03,240
But, in a few years' time,
if your boiler breaks down,

1081
01:06:03,240 --> 01:06:05,920
you won't be able to just buy
a new one and replace it.

1082
01:06:05,920 --> 01:06:08,760
You'll have to opt for
a green alternative.

1083
01:06:08,760 --> 01:06:11,080
And, as it currently stands,
that's most likely

1084
01:06:11,080 --> 01:06:13,120
to be an electric heat pump.

1085
01:06:15,680 --> 01:06:20,120
The Government has set a target
of 600,000 of them installed

1086
01:06:20,120 --> 01:06:26,800
every year by 2028, including
in every new home from 2025.

1087
01:06:29,240 --> 01:06:33,560
And today, one of them is going into
this bungalow in Hook in Hampshire.

1088
01:06:33,560 --> 01:06:35,440
Hiya! Hello.

1089
01:06:36,680 --> 01:06:38,640
All right.

1090
01:06:38,640 --> 01:06:41,800
Clearly, er, a lot of work
going on out here.

1091
01:06:46,800 --> 01:06:50,200
Hello. Hi, Michelle. Come on in.
Hello. Nice to meet you. Thank you.

1092
01:06:55,680 --> 01:06:58,680
Kenny, when you've got a moment,
try and pull these through. Right.

1093
01:07:01,280 --> 01:07:02,880
The Obornes took the plunge

1094
01:07:02,880 --> 01:07:05,440
as their boiler was nearing the end
of its life.

1095
01:07:05,440 --> 01:07:08,320
It's going to go any minute.

1096
01:07:08,320 --> 01:07:10,440
I'll have that. Yeah.

1097
01:07:12,760 --> 01:07:16,120
So you guys have got a lot of work
going on inside and outside

1098
01:07:16,120 --> 01:07:17,640
the house, it seems.

1099
01:07:17,640 --> 01:07:20,320
This isn't all to do with
the heat pump, is it? It is.

1100
01:07:20,320 --> 01:07:22,680
As part of the install,
we need to upgrade the rads.

1101
01:07:22,680 --> 01:07:25,040
All of them? Basically, yeah.

1102
01:07:25,040 --> 01:07:27,640
This is a big job, isn't it?
It's a sizeable job.

1103
01:07:27,640 --> 01:07:28,920
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

1104
01:07:30,120 --> 01:07:32,480
The radiators are just the start
of it.

1105
01:07:34,160 --> 01:07:35,640
A lot's going to come out.

1106
01:07:35,640 --> 01:07:39,760
So, in this cupboard, we have
an old hot-water cylinder. Yeah.

1107
01:07:39,760 --> 01:07:41,920
That's being removed completely.

1108
01:07:41,920 --> 01:07:43,960
The boiler is being taken out.

1109
01:07:43,960 --> 01:07:45,840
All of that pipework is changing.

1110
01:07:45,840 --> 01:07:49,680
It's going to be routed through from
the garage, over the loft,

1111
01:07:49,680 --> 01:07:53,560
and then it will drop down into
the 250-litre system cylinder.

1112
01:07:53,560 --> 01:07:56,480
And an air source pump
outside the garage.

1113
01:07:56,480 --> 01:07:59,440
Radiators completely replaced
throughout the property.

1114
01:08:00,840 --> 01:08:03,320
We don't know anybody
that's had it done.

1115
01:08:03,320 --> 01:08:05,160
It's a leap of faith.

1116
01:08:05,160 --> 01:08:08,000
The Government is helping, though.

1117
01:08:08,000 --> 01:08:10,440
In England, Wales
and Northern Ireland,

1118
01:08:10,440 --> 01:08:15,320
they're currently offering a one-off
£5,000 heat pump installation grant.

1119
01:08:17,000 --> 01:08:18,720
Scotland is more generous.

1120
01:08:18,720 --> 01:08:21,080
It's £7,500.

1121
01:08:22,040 --> 01:08:23,840
Dare I ask about cost?

1122
01:08:23,840 --> 01:08:27,280
You've got the £5,000 grant
from the Government. Yeah. Yeah.

1123
01:08:27,280 --> 01:08:30,680
Has that covered it?
Oh, no. Um, no, no.

1124
01:08:30,680 --> 01:08:34,440
I mean, this is an £18,000
installation.

1125
01:08:34,440 --> 01:08:35,600
18? Yeah.

1126
01:08:35,600 --> 01:08:38,520
That is a huge amount of money.
It is. Massive.

1127
01:08:38,520 --> 01:08:41,440
It's a far cry from £5,000,
isn't it? Yeah.

1128
01:08:43,560 --> 01:08:47,160
The heat pump itself does only cost
£3,000 to £5,000,

1129
01:08:47,160 --> 01:08:50,800
but it's all the other work
that adds the expense.

1130
01:08:50,800 --> 01:08:53,440
This installation
will take a team of six

1131
01:08:53,440 --> 01:08:55,400
more than a week to complete.

1132
01:08:55,400 --> 01:08:58,520
What size is the heat pump?
It's a seven here, right? Seven.

1133
01:08:58,520 --> 01:09:00,800
So all of this is in press fit,
right? Yeah.

1134
01:09:02,200 --> 01:09:04,640
Patrick Wheeler runs
the installation company

1135
01:09:04,640 --> 01:09:05,960
and is overseeing this work.

1136
01:09:07,000 --> 01:09:08,400
Patrick, hello. Hi.

1137
01:09:08,400 --> 01:09:11,000
Lots going on today. Lots going on.
Talk me through it.

1138
01:09:11,000 --> 01:09:13,800
The external unit's just on the
other side of that wall.

1139
01:09:13,800 --> 01:09:17,200
So we've now fitted our new pipes
across the top of the garage here.

1140
01:09:18,880 --> 01:09:22,880
This installation really is
a significant building project.

1141
01:09:22,880 --> 01:09:28,080
Many homes won't need as much work
as this, but quite a few will.

1142
01:09:28,080 --> 01:09:30,760
So is this an extreme example
of a heat pump installation?

1143
01:09:30,760 --> 01:09:33,320
I wouldn't call this extreme,
no, it's kind of average.

1144
01:09:33,320 --> 01:09:35,280
You've got to have
the heat pump outside.

1145
01:09:35,280 --> 01:09:38,880
You've got to get the pipes
and the cables to it.

1146
01:09:38,880 --> 01:09:43,720
Many homes will also need extra
insulation and even double-glazing

1147
01:09:43,720 --> 01:09:45,840
to make the system efficient.

1148
01:09:47,080 --> 01:09:49,360
And after all the work and expense,

1149
01:09:49,360 --> 01:09:51,960
heat pumps take some
getting used to.

1150
01:09:53,520 --> 01:09:56,640
You can't just whack up
the temperature.

1151
01:09:56,640 --> 01:09:58,240
It heats up differently.

1152
01:09:58,240 --> 01:10:01,280
Generally, you want to heat up
for long periods of time

1153
01:10:01,280 --> 01:10:04,160
at a lower temperature,
but it still gives the same amount

1154
01:10:04,160 --> 01:10:06,720
of power, just over a longer
period of time.

1155
01:10:06,720 --> 01:10:09,680
So you're not going to be colder?
No, you're not going to be colder.

1156
01:10:09,680 --> 01:10:13,920
Take-up of heat pumps has so far
been painfully slow -

1157
01:10:13,920 --> 01:10:16,080
just 60,000 last year,

1158
01:10:16,080 --> 01:10:18,720
one of the lowest in Europe,

1159
01:10:18,720 --> 01:10:21,160
and miles off
the Government's

1160
01:10:21,160 --> 01:10:24,960
target of 600,000
per year by 2028.

1161
01:10:26,840 --> 01:10:30,480
The Government grant
doesn't seem to be helping much.

1162
01:10:30,480 --> 01:10:34,680
So far, fewer than 12,000 grants
have been cashed,

1163
01:10:34,680 --> 01:10:40,280
probably because of the extra costs
the consumer still has to pay.

1164
01:10:40,280 --> 01:10:44,080
If you had a normal house with not
much that needs to be done on it,

1165
01:10:44,080 --> 01:10:48,160
especially with insulation,
how much do you think it would cost?

1166
01:10:48,160 --> 01:10:50,680
Would £5,000 be enough
with the grant?

1167
01:10:50,680 --> 01:10:54,800
An average cost is in the region
of £10,000. £10,000?

1168
01:10:54,800 --> 01:10:57,000
Absolutely.
It's not available for everybody.

1169
01:10:57,000 --> 01:11:00,040
As with all new technologies,
it has to start somewhere.

1170
01:11:00,040 --> 01:11:03,880
Fortunately, there's more interest
in renewables than ever before,

1171
01:11:03,880 --> 01:11:06,720
but it is still only available
for people that are,

1172
01:11:06,720 --> 01:11:09,240
you know, on above-average incomes.

1173
01:11:11,920 --> 01:11:14,560
In fact, the
Government's grant

1174
01:11:14,560 --> 01:11:17,280
is one of the smallest in Europe.

1175
01:11:17,280 --> 01:11:20,960
The French offer up to 9,000 euros,

1176
01:11:20,960 --> 01:11:23,520
and Germany offer a whopping

1177
01:11:23,520 --> 01:11:25,160
15,000 euros

1178
01:11:25,160 --> 01:11:26,480
towards gas removal

1179
01:11:26,480 --> 01:11:28,520
and heat pump installation.

1180
01:11:31,080 --> 01:11:34,760
This year, Octopus Energy
and British Gas launched their own

1181
01:11:34,760 --> 01:11:38,320
heat pump installation deals,
cutting the cost for the consumer

1182
01:11:38,320 --> 01:11:40,880
down to just £3,000.

1183
01:11:40,880 --> 01:11:46,320
But even that still doesn't include
new radiators and insulation.

1184
01:11:46,320 --> 01:11:49,720
So, currently, it looks
like this green solution

1185
01:11:49,720 --> 01:11:52,880
is out of the price range
of many households.

1186
01:11:54,280 --> 01:11:57,840
And even if we are prepared to
break the bank to make this work,

1187
01:11:57,840 --> 01:12:00,160
there is another,
even bigger barrier

1188
01:12:00,160 --> 01:12:03,440
to hitting the Government's
heat pump targets.

1189
01:12:03,440 --> 01:12:06,440
Are there enough people
trained to be able to do it?

1190
01:12:06,440 --> 01:12:11,000
Because one of the targets is to
have 600,000 heat pumps installed

1191
01:12:11,000 --> 01:12:13,080
every year by 2028.

1192
01:12:13,080 --> 01:12:16,080
I mean, that's just around
the corner. There absolutely isn't.

1193
01:12:16,080 --> 01:12:18,960
We've got more people leaving
the heating industry than joining,

1194
01:12:18,960 --> 01:12:21,880
and there's very few people
training.

1195
01:12:21,880 --> 01:12:24,400
Being a low-temperature
engineer,

1196
01:12:24,400 --> 01:12:28,280
you've got to be able to do
heat-loss calculations, pipe sizing,

1197
01:12:28,280 --> 01:12:32,160
and really understand how it works
with a modern control system.

1198
01:12:34,080 --> 01:12:37,280
It's estimated that there are
currently only 4,000

1199
01:12:37,280 --> 01:12:39,680
heat pump installers in the UK,

1200
01:12:39,680 --> 01:12:46,040
and that by 2028
we'll need more than 33,000.

1201
01:12:46,040 --> 01:12:51,080
Government says they are expanding
training, and training facilities,

1202
01:12:51,080 --> 01:12:55,680
but it does still feel like
600,000 installations a year

1203
01:12:55,680 --> 01:12:57,400
is a distant pipe dream.

1204
01:12:59,120 --> 01:13:02,000
Do you think this deadline
is realistic?

1205
01:13:02,000 --> 01:13:04,800
With the current workforce?
No. No, I don't think so.

1206
01:13:04,800 --> 01:13:06,360
We're quite far off of that.

1207
01:13:06,360 --> 01:13:09,560
And there needs to be a lot
of innovation or a lot more money

1208
01:13:09,560 --> 01:13:11,240
from the Government to do that,

1209
01:13:11,240 --> 01:13:13,600
and there's definitely a lot to be
done, and deadlines

1210
01:13:13,600 --> 01:13:16,480
always move, right?
But it's good to have goals.

1211
01:13:16,480 --> 01:13:17,760
Yeah.

1212
01:13:22,440 --> 01:13:25,680
There's a strong argument that
to be serious about reducing our

1213
01:13:25,680 --> 01:13:29,840
carbon footprints,
heat pumps are the answer.

1214
01:13:29,840 --> 01:13:34,560
But with them comes a hefty price
tag, because, let's face it, £5,000

1215
01:13:34,560 --> 01:13:37,040
from the Government isn't enough
for all the work that needs

1216
01:13:37,040 --> 01:13:38,160
to be done around them.

1217
01:13:38,160 --> 01:13:41,160
Then you've got the upheaval
in your home, and if you don't mind

1218
01:13:41,160 --> 01:13:43,840
either of those things,
then you might not get one installed

1219
01:13:43,840 --> 01:13:47,040
anyway because there's not
enough trained workers.

1220
01:13:52,760 --> 01:13:56,920
JUSTIN: One of the key barriers
facing heat pump installation

1221
01:13:56,920 --> 01:13:59,280
goes back a surprisingly long way.

1222
01:14:03,000 --> 01:14:07,320
This is one of the most
energy-efficient houses in the UK.

1223
01:14:07,320 --> 01:14:11,240
These walls have got about ten
centimetres of insulation in them.

1224
01:14:11,240 --> 01:14:14,160
The roof has five times the amount.

1225
01:14:14,160 --> 01:14:17,320
It's like a giant duvet
over the whole house.

1226
01:14:18,360 --> 01:14:20,840
HE GRUNTS

1227
01:14:20,840 --> 01:14:23,840
So, look at this.
There is a sea of insulation here.

1228
01:14:23,840 --> 01:14:26,480
And the problem is
most British homes

1229
01:14:26,480 --> 01:14:30,120
just aren't as well-insulated
as this place.

1230
01:14:31,880 --> 01:14:35,360
But it wasn't meant to be like this.

1231
01:14:35,360 --> 01:14:40,560
In 2006, the Government made new
grants available to help insulate,

1232
01:14:40,560 --> 01:14:45,240
draught-proof and double-glaze
less wealthy homes.

1233
01:14:45,240 --> 01:14:50,440
In 2012 alone, over two million
homes had taken advantage of it.

1234
01:14:50,440 --> 01:14:54,720
Then, in 2013, David Cameron
pulled the grants,

1235
01:14:54,720 --> 01:14:57,960
allegedly calling
them "green crap".

1236
01:15:00,560 --> 01:15:02,480
The number of new insulation

1237
01:15:02,480 --> 01:15:03,880
projects collapsed

1238
01:15:03,880 --> 01:15:06,360
to less than 300,000 a year.

1239
01:15:08,040 --> 01:15:14,040
As a result, only half of UK homes
have cavity or wall insulation,

1240
01:15:14,040 --> 01:15:19,160
and only 40% have the recommended
amount of roof insulation.

1241
01:15:19,160 --> 01:15:23,680
It's been shown that it is possible
to install heat pumps in

1242
01:15:23,680 --> 01:15:27,000
90% of homes, but many will need
extra insulation

1243
01:15:27,000 --> 01:15:29,560
for better efficiency.

1244
01:15:29,560 --> 01:15:31,640
It's hardly surprising, then,

1245
01:15:31,640 --> 01:15:35,280
that heat pumps are having
such a slow roll-out.

1246
01:15:37,000 --> 01:15:41,200
This revolution isn't happening
anywhere near fast enough.

1247
01:15:41,200 --> 01:15:43,280
At current rates of installation,

1248
01:15:43,280 --> 01:15:46,840
it will take more than 400 years

1249
01:15:46,840 --> 01:15:49,880
before every British home

1250
01:15:49,880 --> 01:15:51,480
has a heat pump.

1251
01:15:53,280 --> 01:15:57,320
So, should the Government
really be relying on new technology

1252
01:15:57,320 --> 01:15:58,920
which is so expensive?

1253
01:16:03,920 --> 01:16:06,720
Graham Stuart is a minister
in the newly formed

1254
01:16:06,720 --> 01:16:09,840
Department for Energy Security
and Net Zero.

1255
01:16:13,000 --> 01:16:14,400
Right.

1256
01:16:14,400 --> 01:16:17,400
You say 90% of homes are ready
to take heat pumps,

1257
01:16:17,400 --> 01:16:21,000
but only if they invest
in insulation, bigger radiators.

1258
01:16:21,000 --> 01:16:25,440
These are really costly. It costs,
often, tens of thousands of pounds

1259
01:16:25,440 --> 01:16:28,760
to put a heat pump in, as opposed
to a couple of thousand pounds

1260
01:16:28,760 --> 01:16:30,480
for a gas boiler.

1261
01:16:30,480 --> 01:16:33,160
It's just very, very expensive.

1262
01:16:33,160 --> 01:16:37,440
Well, some need no alteration
at all, and some needs investment.

1263
01:16:37,440 --> 01:16:40,040
That's why we think that 10%,
probably,

1264
01:16:40,040 --> 01:16:42,840
there isn't an economic route
to doing it,

1265
01:16:42,840 --> 01:16:48,240
but work goes on all the time
to get a better clarity on that.

1266
01:16:48,240 --> 01:16:51,000
But most homes can have heat pumps.

1267
01:16:51,000 --> 01:16:53,040
The price of heat pumps
is coming down, the speed

1268
01:16:53,040 --> 01:16:56,000
of installation is increasing,

1269
01:16:56,000 --> 01:16:58,720
and we think that heat pumps,

1270
01:16:58,720 --> 01:17:01,920
with a rebalanced pricing system

1271
01:17:01,920 --> 01:17:03,320
across the energy sector,

1272
01:17:03,320 --> 01:17:05,600
will become more and more
competitive, going forward,

1273
01:17:05,600 --> 01:17:08,760
and I've certainly
been delighted with mine.

1274
01:17:11,120 --> 01:17:15,520
TARA: So, if heat pump take-up is
proving so problematic,

1275
01:17:15,520 --> 01:17:18,040
perhaps we need another solution.

1276
01:17:23,960 --> 01:17:26,120
This is Whitby in Cheshire.

1277
01:17:31,360 --> 01:17:34,400
In this very unlikely
prefabricated building,

1278
01:17:34,400 --> 01:17:37,800
they have a completely different
vision for the future

1279
01:17:37,800 --> 01:17:39,000
of home heating.

1280
01:17:40,680 --> 01:17:42,960
Hi, Tara. Hey.
Lovely to meet you.

1281
01:17:42,960 --> 01:17:45,320
Good to see you. Come on in.
Thank you.

1282
01:17:46,480 --> 01:17:51,400
Believe it or not, this is the site
of a serious net-zero experiment.

1283
01:17:54,800 --> 01:17:56,960
So...

1284
01:17:56,960 --> 01:17:58,840
..a boiler?!
Yeah.

1285
01:17:58,840 --> 01:18:02,000
You're suitably underwhelmed.
THEY LAUGH

1286
01:18:02,000 --> 01:18:05,520
It is a boiler, but it's
burning on 100% hydrogen.

1287
01:18:07,240 --> 01:18:08,880
So it's heating radiators,

1288
01:18:08,880 --> 01:18:10,560
it's heating hot water.

1289
01:18:12,280 --> 01:18:14,560
How is it a net-zero solution?

1290
01:18:14,560 --> 01:18:17,640
When we burn it,
the only product is water.

1291
01:18:17,640 --> 01:18:21,720
So, at its point of use, there is
no carbon involved whatsoever.

1292
01:18:21,720 --> 01:18:25,040
So this can fit in, basically,
then, where my old gas boiler is,

1293
01:18:25,040 --> 01:18:27,520
I don't have to go reconfiguring
my kitchen. Absolutely.

1294
01:18:27,520 --> 01:18:29,120
It's one of the benefits.

1295
01:18:29,120 --> 01:18:31,880
It's just such a simple way
of decarbonising the way

1296
01:18:31,880 --> 01:18:33,600
we heat our homes today.

1297
01:18:35,520 --> 01:18:38,880
Darren Elsom works for Cadent,
the UK's largest

1298
01:18:38,880 --> 01:18:40,760
gas distribution network.

1299
01:18:43,160 --> 01:18:46,400
We've been investing in gas network
for a good couple of decades,

1300
01:18:46,400 --> 01:18:50,200
replacing old iron pipes
to new plastic pipes.

1301
01:18:50,200 --> 01:18:53,480
So the new plastic pipes are
absolutely suitable for hydrogen.

1302
01:18:53,480 --> 01:18:57,680
Around 75% to 80% of the network
is already plastic.

1303
01:18:57,680 --> 01:18:59,760
So we won't have to
dig up the roads again?

1304
01:18:59,760 --> 01:19:01,720
Not promising
never dig up the road!

1305
01:19:01,720 --> 01:19:05,320
Hydrogen gas is very different
to the natural gas we're used to.

1306
01:19:05,320 --> 01:19:08,560
It's much lighter, and leakier,

1307
01:19:08,560 --> 01:19:11,200
and it's also highly explosive.

1308
01:19:11,200 --> 01:19:15,800
So it would need modern pipework
throughout the network to be safe.

1309
01:19:15,800 --> 01:19:19,120
But Cadent claims that
their current gas network

1310
01:19:19,120 --> 01:19:21,440
is almost ready
to carry hydrogen.

1311
01:19:24,440 --> 01:19:29,480
Well, that seems sort of possible,
except for one thing.

1312
01:19:29,480 --> 01:19:33,720
Where is the nation's hydrogen
actually going to come from?

1313
01:19:35,080 --> 01:19:36,760
Come and see down here.

1314
01:19:37,880 --> 01:19:42,440
Even in the UK's most impressive
hydrogen show home,

1315
01:19:42,440 --> 01:19:46,000
the hydrogen actually
arrives in tanks.

1316
01:19:51,080 --> 01:19:53,520
To pipe hydrogen
to millions of homes,

1317
01:19:53,520 --> 01:19:56,840
we would need
massive quantities of it.

1318
01:19:56,840 --> 01:20:00,160
Hydrogen is the most common
element in the universe.

1319
01:20:00,160 --> 01:20:03,720
It's all around us, billions
and billions of tonnes of it.

1320
01:20:03,720 --> 01:20:05,320
But the problem is

1321
01:20:05,320 --> 01:20:08,280
most of it is locked up in the water

1322
01:20:08,280 --> 01:20:09,800
of our oceans.

1323
01:20:09,800 --> 01:20:14,080
The cleanest and greenest way to
produce it is to use electricity,

1324
01:20:14,080 --> 01:20:18,120
lots of it, through a process
called electrolysis.

1325
01:20:19,600 --> 01:20:22,520
But most of the time
it's more efficient just to use

1326
01:20:22,520 --> 01:20:26,400
the electricity to heat
our homes with heat pumps.

1327
01:20:26,400 --> 01:20:28,680
So, is there a solution?

1328
01:20:28,680 --> 01:20:31,920
I'm on my way to meet some people
who think they have the answer.

1329
01:20:38,600 --> 01:20:41,840
This is Stanlow Oil Refinery,
just a few miles away

1330
01:20:41,840 --> 01:20:43,920
from the hydrogen test house.

1331
01:20:47,600 --> 01:20:52,440
Every year it processes
nine million tonnes of crude oil,

1332
01:20:52,440 --> 01:20:55,720
making billions of litres
of fuel for our cars.

1333
01:20:58,320 --> 01:21:01,120
On the face of it,
not the most likely player

1334
01:21:01,120 --> 01:21:02,800
in the net-zero future.

1335
01:21:04,720 --> 01:21:06,680
It's like an enormous puzzle.

1336
01:21:06,680 --> 01:21:08,240
It really is.

1337
01:21:08,240 --> 01:21:10,560
This refinery produces about

1338
01:21:10,560 --> 01:21:14,480
two million tonnes a year
of carbon dioxide.

1339
01:21:14,480 --> 01:21:16,440
Just this site?
Just this site. Oh!

1340
01:21:25,640 --> 01:21:28,200
So this is
the catalytic cracker here?

1341
01:21:28,200 --> 01:21:30,720
So this is the cat cracker itself.

1342
01:21:32,160 --> 01:21:33,760
Wow!

1343
01:21:33,760 --> 01:21:37,600
Very high temperatures,
up to 700 degrees in there.

1344
01:21:37,600 --> 01:21:41,200
Those gases get emitted
into the atmosphere.

1345
01:21:41,200 --> 01:21:45,480
It's that burning of the coat
that causes those CO2 emissions.

1346
01:21:49,560 --> 01:21:52,760
You would have thought that
in a world of renewable energy,

1347
01:21:52,760 --> 01:21:54,840
electric cars and heat pumps,

1348
01:21:54,840 --> 01:21:58,000
that this place
would be consigned to history.

1349
01:22:02,280 --> 01:22:05,920
But the owners of Stanlow
see a future in hydrogen.

1350
01:22:09,000 --> 01:22:12,040
They've teamed up with gas
distributors Cadent and a group

1351
01:22:12,040 --> 01:22:16,720
of other companies to form HyNet,
a Government-backed project

1352
01:22:16,720 --> 01:22:19,320
to produce and distribute hydrogen

1353
01:22:19,320 --> 01:22:20,720
in the North West of England...

1354
01:22:22,520 --> 01:22:25,800
..because the hydro
in the hydrocarbons they produce

1355
01:22:25,800 --> 01:22:27,520
is actually hydrogen.

1356
01:22:29,880 --> 01:22:33,760
And this coalition of oil and gas
companies think they can

1357
01:22:33,760 --> 01:22:36,760
stay in business
by extracting the hydrogen

1358
01:22:36,760 --> 01:22:39,520
from the hydrocarbons
like natural gas.

1359
01:22:41,160 --> 01:22:45,760
So we're just coming up now
to the site of two plants

1360
01:22:45,760 --> 01:22:48,000
of hydrogen production.

1361
01:22:48,000 --> 01:22:51,280
We will be building those
over the next three to four years.

1362
01:22:51,280 --> 01:22:56,640
Those first two plants will have
a combined output of one gigawatt,

1363
01:22:56,640 --> 01:23:01,200
which is enough to power a
large city, such as Liverpool,

1364
01:23:01,200 --> 01:23:02,480
just up the road.

1365
01:23:04,160 --> 01:23:07,640
They say the hydrogen they produce
could fuel industry,

1366
01:23:07,640 --> 01:23:10,400
furnaces for steel,
ovens for glass,

1367
01:23:10,400 --> 01:23:12,400
and possibly heat our homes too.

1368
01:23:13,480 --> 01:23:16,440
It's a wildly ambitious plan -

1369
01:23:16,440 --> 01:23:20,840
keep on extracting oil and gas
and take out the hydrogen.

1370
01:23:20,840 --> 01:23:22,720
But there is a snag.

1371
01:23:23,960 --> 01:23:28,480
This process produces a huge amount
of carbon dioxide.

1372
01:23:28,480 --> 01:23:31,560
To make hydrogen
a low-carbon fuel,

1373
01:23:31,560 --> 01:23:35,040
you need to produce the hydrogen
but also capture

1374
01:23:35,040 --> 01:23:37,520
and store the carbon.

1375
01:23:37,520 --> 01:23:39,960
We will capture...

1376
01:23:41,120 --> 01:23:44,800
..about 1.8 million tonnes
of CO2 per year.

1377
01:23:46,480 --> 01:23:48,640
Wow.

1378
01:23:48,640 --> 01:23:52,480
Then they plan to pump all of that
carbon dioxide under the sea,

1379
01:23:52,480 --> 01:23:56,920
storing it underground,
they claim, forever.

1380
01:23:56,920 --> 01:23:59,680
We will compress CO2,

1381
01:23:59,680 --> 01:24:02,760
it will flow through pipework

1382
01:24:02,760 --> 01:24:06,960
out to sea and into depleted
gas fields in Liverpool Bay.

1383
01:24:10,960 --> 01:24:15,440
The issue is that it's not 100%
efficient, and no-one in the UK

1384
01:24:15,440 --> 01:24:18,600
has ever done it at scale before.

1385
01:24:18,600 --> 01:24:21,840
So it's all a multimillion-pound
experiment.

1386
01:24:23,720 --> 01:24:26,880
They also say that the process
will eventually be replaced

1387
01:24:26,880 --> 01:24:31,840
by a fully green production method
that doesn't involve hydrocarbons.

1388
01:24:34,520 --> 01:24:39,440
And hydrogen for heating our homes
is also proving to be problematic.

1389
01:24:40,600 --> 01:24:43,560
The Government said if they haven't
got the support of the residents,

1390
01:24:43,560 --> 01:24:45,520
it can't happen.

1391
01:24:45,520 --> 01:24:47,680
So let's make sure it doesn't.

1392
01:24:47,680 --> 01:24:49,560
APPLAUSE

1393
01:24:51,480 --> 01:24:55,160
In 2021, Cadent announced
that the nearby village of Whitby

1394
01:24:55,160 --> 01:24:58,120
would become part
of a new hydrogen trial.

1395
01:25:00,640 --> 01:25:03,280
Residents were told their
gas boilers would be replaced

1396
01:25:03,280 --> 01:25:04,880
with hydrogen boilers.

1397
01:25:08,800 --> 01:25:11,680
But many of them felt they were
being forced into becoming

1398
01:25:11,680 --> 01:25:14,560
guinea pigs in the gas giant's
experiment.

1399
01:25:18,280 --> 01:25:20,920
I think the feeling was quite
clear for a lot of residents

1400
01:25:20,920 --> 01:25:23,520
that this isn't the way
to go to achieve net zero,

1401
01:25:23,520 --> 01:25:26,840
and it's certainly not something
that a majority of residents

1402
01:25:26,840 --> 01:25:29,400
are wanting to take part in.

1403
01:25:31,600 --> 01:25:35,280
Whitby resident Kate Grannell leads
a protest group that want to stop

1404
01:25:35,280 --> 01:25:38,560
the hydrogen roll-out, as
they have some serious concerns.

1405
01:25:38,560 --> 01:25:40,800
Hi! Hi, how are you doing? Kate?
I'm all right. Yeah.

1406
01:25:40,800 --> 01:25:43,080
Lovely to meet you. I'm Tara.
Hi. Come in.

1407
01:25:46,840 --> 01:25:51,640
We had no independent person
to advise us.

1408
01:25:51,640 --> 01:25:54,720
So we've got, you know, a gas
company and a gas distribution

1409
01:25:54,720 --> 01:25:58,160
network company that really
need to sell this idea.

1410
01:25:58,160 --> 01:26:00,800
And what do you think about that?
What's your view on it?

1411
01:26:00,800 --> 01:26:05,320
Yeah, so I think it will never
be cost-effective or efficient.

1412
01:26:05,320 --> 01:26:08,520
It will always be more than
your natural gas because you need

1413
01:26:08,520 --> 01:26:11,120
the natural gas to create hydrogen.

1414
01:26:11,120 --> 01:26:14,600
So, do you think it will be
green hydrogen that comes

1415
01:26:14,600 --> 01:26:18,000
through the pipes for
the project here in Whitby?

1416
01:26:18,000 --> 01:26:21,840
When we have challenged them and
we've said, "Will it be 100% green,

1417
01:26:21,840 --> 01:26:24,320
"100% of the time?"
they've said no.

1418
01:26:24,320 --> 01:26:28,080
And there's already been
definitive publications out there

1419
01:26:28,080 --> 01:26:32,160
that has already said there
will not be enough green hydrogen

1420
01:26:32,160 --> 01:26:34,720
to roll this out across the UK.

1421
01:26:37,440 --> 01:26:40,720
As a result of the protests,
the Government recently indicated

1422
01:26:40,720 --> 01:26:43,640
it will call off
the Whitby hydrogen trial.

1423
01:26:43,640 --> 01:26:48,000
Discussions are still ongoing
over a similar trial in Redcar.

1424
01:26:50,000 --> 01:26:54,120
Meanwhile, a number of influential
reports have cast grave doubt

1425
01:26:54,120 --> 01:26:57,840
about the practicality of hydrogen
as a domestic fuel.

1426
01:26:57,840 --> 01:27:00,400
For a company locked into
fossil fuels,

1427
01:27:00,400 --> 01:27:03,000
that's very bad news.

1428
01:27:03,000 --> 01:27:06,120
Is hydrogen for heating
of residential homes

1429
01:27:06,120 --> 01:27:08,760
really going to be part
of the long-term solution?

1430
01:27:08,760 --> 01:27:11,160
Yeah, absolutely.
We need a range of solutions

1431
01:27:11,160 --> 01:27:13,280
if we're actually going
to achieve net zero.

1432
01:27:13,280 --> 01:27:17,840
There is no alternative, if we want
to achieve net zero by 2050.

1433
01:27:17,840 --> 01:27:22,080
So we need to get hydrogen moving,
get it operating at scale.

1434
01:27:22,080 --> 01:27:26,080
But ultimately, green hydrogen
is the way we need to go.

1435
01:27:29,120 --> 01:27:31,520
JUSTIN: Hydrogen as a heating fuel
for homes.

1436
01:27:31,520 --> 01:27:32,720
Does it make any sense?

1437
01:27:32,720 --> 01:27:35,320
Because most experts seem to think
it's way too expensive,

1438
01:27:35,320 --> 01:27:36,880
we won't have enough of it.

1439
01:27:36,880 --> 01:27:40,800
Why even bother with these trials,
which have proved really unpopular?

1440
01:27:40,800 --> 01:27:45,480
When you look at the massive
roll-out of renewables,

1441
01:27:45,480 --> 01:27:48,320
the opportunity to take
the constraint payments,

1442
01:27:48,320 --> 01:27:52,120
when we effectively have to pay
generators not to generate

1443
01:27:52,120 --> 01:27:56,040
at certain times, to be able
to convert that into hydrogen,

1444
01:27:56,040 --> 01:27:58,560
so as to store that green energy,

1445
01:27:58,560 --> 01:28:01,720
that gives us
all sorts of potential uses.

1446
01:28:01,720 --> 01:28:05,480
And in that context, there is a case
for seeing how it may have

1447
01:28:05,480 --> 01:28:09,880
a part to play in the
decarbonisation of heating in homes.

1448
01:28:14,080 --> 01:28:17,600
Whatever we decide about how
we're going to heat our homes,

1449
01:28:17,600 --> 01:28:20,960
one thing is for certain - we are
going to need a hell of a lot

1450
01:28:20,960 --> 01:28:24,920
more electricity, and it's all
going to need to be green.

1451
01:28:29,680 --> 01:28:33,000
Right now, at peak times,
the National Grid needs

1452
01:28:33,000 --> 01:28:35,120
60 gigawatts of electricity.

1453
01:28:37,440 --> 01:28:39,000
By 2050,

1454
01:28:39,000 --> 01:28:40,640
some estimates suggest

1455
01:28:40,640 --> 01:28:42,240
that'll need to double

1456
01:28:42,240 --> 01:28:44,200
to at least 120 gigawatts.

1457
01:28:47,840 --> 01:28:51,640
At the moment, about 40%
is generated by gas.

1458
01:28:51,640 --> 01:28:54,360
That's going to have to be
phased out.

1459
01:28:56,080 --> 01:28:58,960
That means, in the next 27 years,

1460
01:28:58,960 --> 01:29:01,960
we have to quadruple - QUADRUPLE -

1461
01:29:01,960 --> 01:29:04,760
the amount of green energy
this country produces.

1462
01:29:04,760 --> 01:29:08,800
Now, in terms of national
infrastructure, that is a massive,

1463
01:29:08,800 --> 01:29:12,240
perhaps even unprecedented
challenge.

1464
01:29:12,240 --> 01:29:15,320
So, to meet
its 2050 net-zero target,

1465
01:29:15,320 --> 01:29:18,560
the Government
has set an objective -

1466
01:29:18,560 --> 01:29:23,800
decarbonise the entire
electricity supply by 2035.

1467
01:29:29,120 --> 01:29:32,800
MICHELLE: Wind has been a great
British success story.

1468
01:29:32,800 --> 01:29:34,360
We're global leaders.

1469
01:29:36,600 --> 01:29:40,840
We have two of the biggest
offshore wind farms in the world.

1470
01:29:43,560 --> 01:29:46,920
When the weather is right,
wind can generate more than

1471
01:29:46,920 --> 01:29:49,400
60% of our electricity,

1472
01:29:49,400 --> 01:29:52,520
and it's all been done
in a few short years.

1473
01:29:56,480 --> 01:29:59,720
But building turbines
out at sea is expensive.

1474
01:30:04,920 --> 01:30:09,080
Most experts agree that to hit
net zero by 2050,

1475
01:30:09,080 --> 01:30:12,520
we need much cheaper
wind turbines on land...

1476
01:30:15,920 --> 01:30:19,000
..thousands and thousands of them.

1477
01:30:19,000 --> 01:30:21,640
And that's where the problems start.

1478
01:30:23,040 --> 01:30:24,640
It's massive!

1479
01:30:35,080 --> 01:30:40,000
Believe it or not, this single
turbine on the outskirts of Bristol

1480
01:30:40,000 --> 01:30:44,960
is the biggest onshore wind project
in England in the last four years.

1481
01:30:47,480 --> 01:30:49,440
See the team up there just now,
working away?

1482
01:30:49,440 --> 01:30:51,200
Yeah. And they'll be...

1483
01:30:51,200 --> 01:30:53,440
The project manager was
engineer Dave Tudgey.

1484
01:30:53,440 --> 01:30:56,240
Hello there! Oh, excellent. Thank
you. Thank you, David. See you.

1485
01:30:56,240 --> 01:30:58,840
Hi, Michelle. Hi, Dave. Nice to
meet you. Lovely to meet you.

1486
01:30:58,840 --> 01:31:01,120
So, here it is in all its glory.

1487
01:31:01,120 --> 01:31:03,400
It's here. It's arrived, yes.
Yeah.

1488
01:31:03,400 --> 01:31:05,920
The tallest and largest,
the most powerful onshore

1489
01:31:05,920 --> 01:31:08,480
wind turbine in England.

1490
01:31:08,480 --> 01:31:10,400
Every time I look at it,
I'm just blown away

1491
01:31:10,400 --> 01:31:12,160
by how beautiful it is.

1492
01:31:12,160 --> 01:31:13,560
SHE LAUGHS

1493
01:31:15,000 --> 01:31:20,000
In the past five years, only
20 new onshore turbines in England

1494
01:31:20,000 --> 01:31:22,160
have received planning permission.

1495
01:31:22,160 --> 01:31:24,360
And this is one.

1496
01:31:24,360 --> 01:31:26,920
Where are the rest of them?
Well, this is the only one,

1497
01:31:26,920 --> 01:31:30,560
and this actually represents
a quarter of all turbines

1498
01:31:30,560 --> 01:31:32,960
and 75% of the capacity
of the energy installed

1499
01:31:32,960 --> 01:31:36,320
over the last four years,
just one single turbine.

1500
01:31:36,320 --> 01:31:38,920
That is...quite something!

1501
01:31:40,560 --> 01:31:45,520
And even getting just one turbine
built has been a planning nightmare.

1502
01:31:48,560 --> 01:31:51,480
A symbol of the troubles
of onshore wind.

1503
01:31:58,120 --> 01:32:01,280
Dave doesn't work for
an energy giant, either.

1504
01:32:04,040 --> 01:32:07,600
You know, on first glance, it does
seem like an unlikely location

1505
01:32:07,600 --> 01:32:10,960
for the country's leading
wind turbine project.

1506
01:32:12,520 --> 01:32:15,040
He works for a community charity.

1507
01:32:15,040 --> 01:32:18,920
They're one of the only groups
in England to even try to put up

1508
01:32:18,920 --> 01:32:23,360
a wind turbine in the past
eight years, let alone succeed.

1509
01:32:28,640 --> 01:32:31,440
Dave, hello. Hiya. Hi, I'm Michelle.
Hello, Michelle. How are you?

1510
01:32:31,440 --> 01:32:34,920
Very well, thank you. I'm Mark.
Nice to meet you, Mark.

1511
01:32:34,920 --> 01:32:37,760
Dave was engaged by Mark Pepper,
who runs a charity

1512
01:32:37,760 --> 01:32:40,480
in Lawrence Weston, in Bristol.

1513
01:32:40,480 --> 01:32:43,640
We offer a lot of different services
to residents, from debt advice

1514
01:32:43,640 --> 01:32:45,200
to food bank support.

1515
01:32:45,200 --> 01:32:48,760
We've even got a free veterinary
service that runs from the building.

1516
01:32:48,760 --> 01:32:51,880
Lawrence Weston isn't the wealthiest
part of the city,

1517
01:32:51,880 --> 01:32:55,000
and Mark was looking for money to
deliver improvements

1518
01:32:55,000 --> 01:32:56,400
to the community.

1519
01:32:56,400 --> 01:32:59,920
He hit on the idea
of building a turbine.

1520
01:32:59,920 --> 01:33:01,520
It was nothing to do with climate.

1521
01:33:01,520 --> 01:33:03,960
It was nothing to do, you know,
with saving the planet.

1522
01:33:03,960 --> 01:33:06,240
It was just a plain case of needing

1523
01:33:06,240 --> 01:33:08,480
to generate some sort of income.

1524
01:33:09,800 --> 01:33:13,720
A 3.5 megawatt turbine like this
can generate more than

1525
01:33:13,720 --> 01:33:17,920
£1 million worth of electricity
a year at current prices.

1526
01:33:17,920 --> 01:33:21,400
Selling it to the grid could
generate a healthy income

1527
01:33:21,400 --> 01:33:22,800
for the community.

1528
01:33:22,800 --> 01:33:25,120
There's money in this renewable
energy lark if you go

1529
01:33:25,120 --> 01:33:29,360
about it the right way. So why can't
we have, you know, a stake in that?

1530
01:33:30,920 --> 01:33:33,760
I just hate them. I think they
just ruin the countryside.

1531
01:33:33,760 --> 01:33:36,840
But onshore wind farms
are controversial.

1532
01:33:36,840 --> 01:33:39,760
They'll kill birds.
They'll kill wildlife.

1533
01:33:39,760 --> 01:33:43,120
Opponents say they blight
the landscape.

1534
01:33:43,120 --> 01:33:45,920
There are also concerns
about the impact on wildlife

1535
01:33:45,920 --> 01:33:47,640
and the natural world.

1536
01:33:47,640 --> 01:33:49,120
Mark and Dave didn't know

1537
01:33:49,120 --> 01:33:52,560
that they were about to enter
into planning hell.

1538
01:33:52,560 --> 01:33:55,240
So this is where it all happens,
then, Dave? Yeah.

1539
01:33:55,240 --> 01:33:59,000
Their problems started with
a Government statement in 2015

1540
01:33:59,000 --> 01:34:03,400
which meant almost any objection
would block planning permission.

1541
01:34:03,400 --> 01:34:04,880
This is it, isn't it?

1542
01:34:04,880 --> 01:34:07,840
The written ministerial statement
came about,

1543
01:34:07,840 --> 01:34:09,560
which had two conditions,

1544
01:34:09,560 --> 01:34:13,240
effectively put a kibosh on all
new onshore wind development

1545
01:34:13,240 --> 01:34:14,680
across the country.

1546
01:34:16,160 --> 01:34:20,480
Dave's only chance was to get
the whole community on board,

1547
01:34:20,480 --> 01:34:24,680
and meant he had to produce
a detailed document.

1548
01:34:24,680 --> 01:34:28,440
This document here, which is
goodness knows how many pages long,

1549
01:34:28,440 --> 01:34:31,600
is actually all the community
consultation we did.

1550
01:34:31,600 --> 01:34:35,440
Dave then set about raising
the money and finding a site.

1551
01:34:35,440 --> 01:34:39,200
But that's when the real
red-tape nightmare began.

1552
01:34:39,200 --> 01:34:42,520
It was a SSSI, a site
of scientific interest.

1553
01:34:42,520 --> 01:34:44,240
There's contaminated land,

1554
01:34:44,240 --> 01:34:47,400
there's archaeology,
there's habitat assessments,

1555
01:34:47,400 --> 01:34:50,840
there's two years of bird surveys.

1556
01:34:50,840 --> 01:34:54,560
This is the picture of the gas
assessment, identifying, with flags,

1557
01:34:54,560 --> 01:34:56,040
where the gas pipeline is,

1558
01:34:56,040 --> 01:34:58,480
and behind it is
Seabank Power Station.

1559
01:34:58,480 --> 01:35:00,800
But after five years of work,

1560
01:35:00,800 --> 01:35:04,720
Dave finally managed to convene
a planning meeting.

1561
01:35:04,720 --> 01:35:08,200
Committee. Hopefully, you have all
had my written statement where I

1562
01:35:08,200 --> 01:35:11,520
note the high levels of citizen
support for this application.

1563
01:35:11,520 --> 01:35:14,680
With the default across England
being a firm "no"

1564
01:35:14,680 --> 01:35:17,880
on onshore turbines,
it was an anxious time.

1565
01:35:17,880 --> 01:35:19,360
Seabank Power Station,

1566
01:35:19,360 --> 01:35:23,200
they're worried that if our turbine
fell over, a blade tip might hit one

1567
01:35:23,200 --> 01:35:25,000
of their 24 cooling towers.

1568
01:35:25,000 --> 01:35:28,640
How were you feeling at this point,
Dave? Did you feel like this was

1569
01:35:28,640 --> 01:35:30,840
going to go through?
My mum got so nervous,

1570
01:35:30,840 --> 01:35:33,880
she ended up cutting her hedge.
Did she? Yeah.

1571
01:35:33,880 --> 01:35:38,520
The power station, more at risk
from low-flying Gloucester Old Spots

1572
01:35:38,520 --> 01:35:40,360
than it is from us.

1573
01:35:40,360 --> 01:35:42,600
And despite the long odds...

1574
01:35:42,600 --> 01:35:45,200
For.
..it became one of only five

1575
01:35:45,200 --> 01:35:50,560
new onshore wind projects granted
permission in England that year.

1576
01:35:50,560 --> 01:35:53,160
Myself, for.

1577
01:35:53,160 --> 01:35:55,920
That makes it unanimous.

1578
01:35:55,920 --> 01:35:57,480
Happy days. Happy days.

1579
01:35:57,480 --> 01:35:59,520
Finally! Can start the project.

1580
01:35:59,520 --> 01:36:02,120
I have to say,
I couldn't believe it.

1581
01:36:02,120 --> 01:36:04,680
It was a real, real relief
and a real success,

1582
01:36:04,680 --> 01:36:06,320
you know, that we got there.

1583
01:36:08,080 --> 01:36:10,200
Of course, then you've got to
build it, haven't you?

1584
01:36:10,200 --> 01:36:11,880
And then you've got to build it.
Yeah,

1585
01:36:11,880 --> 01:36:15,280
It's absolutely massive! When you're
looking at it being built here,

1586
01:36:15,280 --> 01:36:17,960
you can see the scale.
I mean, those blades!

1587
01:36:21,360 --> 01:36:24,600
Onshore and offshore wind
is, alongside solar,

1588
01:36:24,600 --> 01:36:29,040
the best hope of decarbonising
the electricity network by 2035.

1589
01:36:30,640 --> 01:36:32,400
And it's cheap, too.

1590
01:36:33,480 --> 01:36:35,800
But there's widespread opposition,

1591
01:36:35,800 --> 01:36:39,320
and the planning system
grinds ever so slowly.

1592
01:36:42,840 --> 01:36:49,040
The amount of perseverance and sheer
determination it's taken from Dave

1593
01:36:49,040 --> 01:36:51,440
to get this wind turbine
off the ground,

1594
01:36:51,440 --> 01:36:53,720
I mean, it just shows how difficult

1595
01:36:53,720 --> 01:36:56,040
it is to build onshore wind turbines

1596
01:36:56,040 --> 01:36:57,480
in this country.

1597
01:36:57,480 --> 01:37:00,000
This is a project that was backed
by the community.

1598
01:37:00,000 --> 01:37:03,320
They were fully on board,
yet it still took

1599
01:37:03,320 --> 01:37:05,720
seven years to complete!

1600
01:37:09,840 --> 01:37:12,240
JUSTIN: Let's talk a little bit
about onshore wind,

1601
01:37:12,240 --> 01:37:16,160
because the cheapest electricity
is onshore wind.

1602
01:37:16,160 --> 01:37:18,760
And yet, last...this year, so far,

1603
01:37:18,760 --> 01:37:21,760
one single wind turbine
has been erected

1604
01:37:21,760 --> 01:37:24,600
because the planning restrictions
are so tough.

1605
01:37:24,600 --> 01:37:27,560
Shouldn't you make it easier for
people to invest

1606
01:37:27,560 --> 01:37:30,920
in the cheapest renewable power
in the UK?

1607
01:37:30,920 --> 01:37:33,520
Onshore wind is amongst the cheapest
and it's massively cheaper

1608
01:37:33,520 --> 01:37:35,160
than it was even in 2015,

1609
01:37:35,160 --> 01:37:39,520
and we are working hard
to find a way of making sure

1610
01:37:39,520 --> 01:37:42,280
that we can encourage more onshore
wind in a way that does so

1611
01:37:42,280 --> 01:37:44,200
with community support and consent.

1612
01:37:44,200 --> 01:37:47,000
You can't impose things on
communities against their will,

1613
01:37:47,000 --> 01:37:49,120
but you do need to get the right
balance, make sure

1614
01:37:49,120 --> 01:37:52,120
that we've consulted on community
benefits, to make sure

1615
01:37:52,120 --> 01:37:56,440
that those who host onshore wind
turbines can benefit from it,

1616
01:37:56,440 --> 01:37:58,760
and that we create the political
conditions so that we can

1617
01:37:58,760 --> 01:38:01,360
have a renaissance in onshore wind,

1618
01:38:01,360 --> 01:38:03,880
which I would very, very much like.

1619
01:38:10,680 --> 01:38:13,320
TARA: 70 years ago,
the future was nuclear.

1620
01:38:15,040 --> 01:38:18,240
It was exciting and new,
and we were promised cheap,

1621
01:38:18,240 --> 01:38:20,680
perhaps free electricity forever.

1622
01:38:23,600 --> 01:38:28,480
But huge cost, problems with
nuclear waste, and the potential

1623
01:38:28,480 --> 01:38:32,080
for catastrophe meant that
the last nuclear power station

1624
01:38:32,080 --> 01:38:34,360
came online in 1995.

1625
01:38:35,920 --> 01:38:39,160
Now, with a net-zero future,
nuclear is back.

1626
01:38:40,600 --> 01:38:43,800
Because when the wind doesn't blow,
we're going to need something

1627
01:38:43,800 --> 01:38:45,560
to keep the lights on.

1628
01:38:45,560 --> 01:38:47,200
At the moment, that's gas.

1629
01:38:47,200 --> 01:38:50,080
But as we know,
gas is being phased out.

1630
01:38:52,680 --> 01:38:55,160
Nuclear power stations produce

1631
01:38:55,160 --> 01:38:57,840
tonnes of toxic radioactive waste,

1632
01:38:57,840 --> 01:39:00,240
but they don't emit carbon dioxide.

1633
01:39:00,240 --> 01:39:02,520
So, in that sense, they're green.

1634
01:39:04,880 --> 01:39:07,720
Nuclear currently produces
about five gigawatts of

1635
01:39:07,720 --> 01:39:09,640
electric power to the grid,

1636
01:39:09,640 --> 01:39:11,800
10% to 15% of the total.

1637
01:39:13,600 --> 01:39:17,160
The Government wants to more than
double that by 2050

1638
01:39:17,160 --> 01:39:19,320
to meet their net-zero target.

1639
01:39:21,120 --> 01:39:24,760
But half of our current nuclear
electricity is generated by

1640
01:39:24,760 --> 01:39:27,920
power stations that were
built in the 1980s.

1641
01:39:31,640 --> 01:39:35,400
Heysham Power Station in Lancashire
currently produces a quarter

1642
01:39:35,400 --> 01:39:37,920
of all the UK's nuclear power.

1643
01:39:37,920 --> 01:39:42,560
It was built almost half a century
ago, and it's on its last legs.

1644
01:39:46,320 --> 01:39:49,080
Thank you.
Welcome, Tara.

1645
01:39:49,080 --> 01:39:51,960
So this is the entrance
to the reactor building.

1646
01:39:51,960 --> 01:39:53,480
Turbine hall's down that way.

1647
01:39:53,480 --> 01:39:56,800
Richard Bradfield is
chief technical officer.

1648
01:39:56,800 --> 01:40:00,080
So I'm going to go and stand
on top of a nuclear reactor.

1649
01:40:00,080 --> 01:40:01,440
OK, let's go.

1650
01:40:14,920 --> 01:40:16,560
Wow! It's huge!

1651
01:40:16,560 --> 01:40:19,080
Just stand in the middle here
and you get a...

1652
01:40:19,080 --> 01:40:21,640
The scale of it!
..scale of what's going on.

1653
01:40:21,640 --> 01:40:23,000
Point me to the reactor.

1654
01:40:23,000 --> 01:40:24,560
Like, is that it, where...?

1655
01:40:24,560 --> 01:40:27,040
So, yeah, we've got two
reactors in this building

1656
01:40:27,040 --> 01:40:28,280
and they are below us.

1657
01:40:28,280 --> 01:40:31,080
There's one reactor that's
generating at the moment... Yeah.

1658
01:40:31,080 --> 01:40:34,000
..1,500 megawatts of thermal power.

1659
01:40:34,000 --> 01:40:36,600
Wow! OK, come on, show me more.

1660
01:40:39,040 --> 01:40:43,280
The ageing reactor core needs
regular inspection.

1661
01:40:43,280 --> 01:40:47,720
To see inside, the team has to lift
the uranium fuel out

1662
01:40:47,720 --> 01:40:49,760
using a special crane.

1663
01:40:49,760 --> 01:40:52,840
What is that?
This is the fuelling machine.

1664
01:40:52,840 --> 01:40:54,520
It's a giant crane. Wow!

1665
01:40:54,520 --> 01:40:57,760
So, at the moment, it's just hoisted
an irradiated fuel assembly

1666
01:40:57,760 --> 01:40:59,560
to remove from the reactor.

1667
01:40:59,560 --> 01:41:01,720
It's been in there about
seven years.

1668
01:41:01,720 --> 01:41:04,080
So it's just taken...
"It's just taken," listen to this!

1669
01:41:04,080 --> 01:41:07,160
..seven-year-old uranium, up there,
right in front of us.

1670
01:41:07,160 --> 01:41:08,920
That's amazing!
Yeah.

1671
01:41:11,920 --> 01:41:13,840
Then they lower a camera

1672
01:41:13,840 --> 01:41:17,680
down into the hot
radioactive core itself.

1673
01:41:17,680 --> 01:41:20,520
All good. Right, then.
We're going down.

1674
01:41:22,320 --> 01:41:25,080
Are you moving the camera
now already? Yeah... Yeah.

1675
01:41:25,080 --> 01:41:27,200
This is it going down?
What is the camera seeing?

1676
01:41:27,200 --> 01:41:29,560
The camera is right at the bottom
of the fuel channel now.

1677
01:41:29,560 --> 01:41:32,600
We're going to start, we're going
to tilt a mirror through 90 degrees,

1678
01:41:32,600 --> 01:41:35,880
so we get a complete picture
of the whole of the inside,

1679
01:41:35,880 --> 01:41:38,840
the circumference at all heights
of the graphite.

1680
01:41:42,320 --> 01:41:44,960
Richard uses a model of
the reactor core to show me

1681
01:41:44,960 --> 01:41:47,640
what they're checking for.

1682
01:41:47,640 --> 01:41:50,200
So what we're looking at here
is a small section of the core.

1683
01:41:50,200 --> 01:41:51,920
These are graphite bricks. OK.

1684
01:41:51,920 --> 01:41:54,560
Some have got holes in, and fuel
sits within these channels,

1685
01:41:54,560 --> 01:41:55,920
some ten metres up.

1686
01:41:55,920 --> 01:41:58,080
It's inherently a robust design,

1687
01:41:58,080 --> 01:42:00,680
but there's a couple of issues
with graphite.

1688
01:42:00,680 --> 01:42:03,800
The constant irradiation
causes it to shrink,

1689
01:42:03,800 --> 01:42:06,840
which causes internal stresses,
and ultimately,

1690
01:42:06,840 --> 01:42:09,680
at some point we start to see
cracking occur.

1691
01:42:11,440 --> 01:42:15,320
So here's the picture
from the inside of

1692
01:42:15,320 --> 01:42:17,560
one of these graphite bricks. OK.

1693
01:42:17,560 --> 01:42:20,160
And you're looking at three of these
slices in here. Can you see?

1694
01:42:20,160 --> 01:42:22,000
Oh, yeah.
The black line is the crack.

1695
01:42:22,000 --> 01:42:25,160
And it goes all the way down.
All the way down.

1696
01:42:25,160 --> 01:42:29,080
It's terrifying to think that
there are cracks in a reactor,

1697
01:42:29,080 --> 01:42:32,080
right next to that fuel,
that nuclear fuel,

1698
01:42:32,080 --> 01:42:34,120
and, like, does that mean
it can escape?

1699
01:42:34,120 --> 01:42:38,040
No, the fuel is within the centre
of this graphite brick.

1700
01:42:38,040 --> 01:42:40,480
When we're talking about the cracks,

1701
01:42:40,480 --> 01:42:42,720
they're in the graphite brick
itself.

1702
01:42:42,720 --> 01:42:46,040
But the worry is that more serious
cracking in the core

1703
01:42:46,040 --> 01:42:50,080
might affect their ability to
turn the reactor off in the event

1704
01:42:50,080 --> 01:42:52,480
of an unexpected emergency.

1705
01:42:52,480 --> 01:42:56,560
When it might become significant
is in the event of

1706
01:42:56,560 --> 01:42:59,640
an extreme earthquake,
an extreme seismic event.

1707
01:42:59,640 --> 01:43:02,480
We need to be confident the reactor
will be in a safe state,

1708
01:43:02,480 --> 01:43:07,600
and subject to that possibility of a
very, very significant earthquake,

1709
01:43:07,600 --> 01:43:10,200
it is still always safe
to shut down.

1710
01:43:11,640 --> 01:43:15,480
This kind of monitoring has
contributed to the shutting down of

1711
01:43:15,480 --> 01:43:17,360
two power stations already,

1712
01:43:17,360 --> 01:43:19,640
but Heysham is still going strong,

1713
01:43:19,640 --> 01:43:22,920
already ten years
beyond its original lifespan.

1714
01:43:25,760 --> 01:43:29,040
This reactor's been extended
from originally 2014,

1715
01:43:29,040 --> 01:43:33,160
and we've just extended it
from 2024 to 2026.

1716
01:43:33,160 --> 01:43:38,120
Wow, so it's still producing
electricity reliably and safely.

1717
01:43:38,120 --> 01:43:39,880
Yeah. That's amazing, you know,

1718
01:43:39,880 --> 01:43:43,400
that you've been able to extend its
life by this careful monitoring.

1719
01:43:46,440 --> 01:43:50,640
But by 2028, the cracks
may have become so serious

1720
01:43:50,640 --> 01:43:53,920
that Heysham and the other
old nuclear power stations

1721
01:43:53,920 --> 01:43:57,640
at Hartlepool and Torness
might finally have to close.

1722
01:44:01,560 --> 01:44:04,120
And this will nearly halve
the amount of electricity

1723
01:44:04,120 --> 01:44:06,480
nuclear will bring
to the National Grid.

1724
01:44:07,880 --> 01:44:12,040
Pretty alarming when the plan
is to double nuclear output.

1725
01:44:17,080 --> 01:44:18,720
To replace this power,

1726
01:44:18,720 --> 01:44:23,920
Government is embarking on an
ambitious and hugely expensive

1727
01:44:23,920 --> 01:44:26,000
series of new nuclear plants.

1728
01:44:32,000 --> 01:44:33,680
The first is Hinkley Point C,

1729
01:44:33,680 --> 01:44:36,600
on the banks of the Bristol Channel
in Somerset.

1730
01:44:40,160 --> 01:44:41,440
It's huge -

1731
01:44:41,440 --> 01:44:44,160
nearly a square mile
of new buildings.

1732
01:44:50,160 --> 01:44:54,480
It's currently the largest single
building project in Europe.

1733
01:44:56,440 --> 01:44:59,640
And it's set to provide nearly
a quarter of the Government's

1734
01:44:59,640 --> 01:45:01,520
nuclear targets on its own.

1735
01:45:04,520 --> 01:45:07,000
But the history of this project

1736
01:45:07,000 --> 01:45:10,920
shows just how difficult
nuclear power is.

1737
01:45:13,800 --> 01:45:16,320
In 2007, EDF announced they would

1738
01:45:16,320 --> 01:45:18,960
build a new nuclear power station,

1739
01:45:18,960 --> 01:45:23,440
Hinkley Point C, opening by 2017.

1740
01:45:23,440 --> 01:45:26,440
They submitted a 55,000-page

1741
01:45:26,440 --> 01:45:28,680
planning application in 2011.

1742
01:45:28,680 --> 01:45:32,680
By 2018, construction finally began.

1743
01:45:32,680 --> 01:45:34,760
Then, in 2021,

1744
01:45:34,760 --> 01:45:37,440
opening slipped to 2025.

1745
01:45:38,800 --> 01:45:40,720
Currently, it's predicted

1746
01:45:40,720 --> 01:45:42,440
to open in 2026.

1747
01:45:44,560 --> 01:45:46,680
And the costs have spiralled, too.

1748
01:45:51,480 --> 01:45:54,120
The other new nuclear power project

1749
01:45:54,120 --> 01:45:57,000
will almost certainly be in Suffolk,

1750
01:45:57,000 --> 01:46:00,560
next to the existing
Sizewell B plant.

1751
01:46:00,560 --> 01:46:03,960
But it's been stuck in planning
for over a decade

1752
01:46:03,960 --> 01:46:07,640
without even a single spade
being sunk.

1753
01:46:07,640 --> 01:46:10,680
But even if these two power stations

1754
01:46:10,680 --> 01:46:13,480
come online in time for net zero,

1755
01:46:13,480 --> 01:46:16,560
they won't be nearly enough
to replace gas.

1756
01:46:19,000 --> 01:46:21,600
But don't worry,
there's another plan.

1757
01:46:26,760 --> 01:46:28,280
For more than 50 years,

1758
01:46:28,280 --> 01:46:31,480
some of the most powerful
and terrifying military hardware

1759
01:46:31,480 --> 01:46:35,920
in the world has been powered
by nuclear reactors -

1760
01:46:35,920 --> 01:46:38,960
submarines and aircraft carriers
that can stay at sea

1761
01:46:38,960 --> 01:46:41,040
for years without refuelling.

1762
01:46:43,520 --> 01:46:47,040
Now there is a call to use
similar small modular reactors

1763
01:46:47,040 --> 01:46:49,120
to generate our electricity.

1764
01:46:51,800 --> 01:46:55,320
Kirsty Gogan is a consultant
for the nuclear industry.

1765
01:46:55,320 --> 01:46:59,800
This example is a 20-megawatt plant,
which is obviously a lot smaller

1766
01:46:59,800 --> 01:47:04,000
than the 3.6-gigawatt plant
being built at Hinkley Point C.

1767
01:47:07,240 --> 01:47:11,000
The advantage is that once it's
made, it can be moved by road

1768
01:47:11,000 --> 01:47:14,840
or by rail to its location
and then installed on site.

1769
01:47:16,760 --> 01:47:20,680
But remember, this is technology
that has never been used

1770
01:47:20,680 --> 01:47:26,200
in this way, so the costs
are still likely to be high.

1771
01:47:26,200 --> 01:47:29,680
It's really expensive to build the
first one. It's a huge investment.

1772
01:47:29,680 --> 01:47:32,360
But if you have an intentional,
really focused,

1773
01:47:32,360 --> 01:47:34,800
programmatic approach to building

1774
01:47:34,800 --> 01:47:37,920
even the conventional
construction projects,

1775
01:47:37,920 --> 01:47:40,840
you get very quickly into
a drumbeat of delivery

1776
01:47:40,840 --> 01:47:44,360
that represents
a really very good cost.

1777
01:47:44,360 --> 01:47:48,160
But even so, most suggest nuclear
will probably be more expensive

1778
01:47:48,160 --> 01:47:51,560
than traditional power stations
and renewables.

1779
01:47:51,560 --> 01:47:54,680
So, to make nuclear more attractive
to investors, Government

1780
01:47:54,680 --> 01:47:58,360
has committed to buying every watt
of electricity they will ever

1781
01:47:58,360 --> 01:48:01,200
produce at an agreed price.

1782
01:48:01,200 --> 01:48:06,120
We may be paying with higher
electricity bills for decades.

1783
01:48:06,120 --> 01:48:09,160
So it's using public money
to subsidise nuclear power.

1784
01:48:09,160 --> 01:48:11,720
I read somewhere that, you know,
even just for Hinkley Point C,

1785
01:48:11,720 --> 01:48:15,680
that's, like, 19 billion is what
the equivalent of that price

1786
01:48:15,680 --> 01:48:17,560
is over those 35 years.
Yeah.

1787
01:48:17,560 --> 01:48:20,120
I mean, all the low-carbon
energy infrastructure

1788
01:48:20,120 --> 01:48:24,000
that we're really trying to
incentivise is currently receiving

1789
01:48:24,000 --> 01:48:26,360
some kind of subsidy,
just like nuclear.

1790
01:48:26,360 --> 01:48:29,560
Without that, it's really difficult
to make the investment case

1791
01:48:29,560 --> 01:48:32,320
because you have to spend
such a lot up front.

1792
01:48:32,320 --> 01:48:35,320
So why do you think it is that
Government and the private sector

1793
01:48:35,320 --> 01:48:38,240
and the investors have got behind
renewables and not nuclear

1794
01:48:38,240 --> 01:48:41,960
up until now? It's fast to build
a wind and solar project,

1795
01:48:41,960 --> 01:48:44,280
so if we want to get
to zero across our

1796
01:48:44,280 --> 01:48:46,440
whole energy infrastructure,

1797
01:48:46,440 --> 01:48:50,440
then we need to start creating
those good market conditions

1798
01:48:50,440 --> 01:48:51,840
for nuclear energy as well.

1799
01:48:51,840 --> 01:48:54,400
But it also means that Government
could play a role.

1800
01:49:04,280 --> 01:49:06,920
The story of the UK's nuclear sector

1801
01:49:06,920 --> 01:49:09,720
is not one that inspires confidence.

1802
01:49:09,720 --> 01:49:12,560
The current fleet is old and creaky,

1803
01:49:12,560 --> 01:49:15,080
and the new fleet is beset
by delays,

1804
01:49:15,080 --> 01:49:18,560
by grinding regulation
and by spiralling costs.

1805
01:49:18,560 --> 01:49:21,120
And now Government is betting
everything

1806
01:49:21,120 --> 01:49:24,600
on a new nuclear technology
that doesn't even exist.

1807
01:49:31,200 --> 01:49:34,280
JUSTIN: If you want 25% of power
to come from nuclear,

1808
01:49:34,280 --> 01:49:35,720
you need to start investing now.

1809
01:49:35,720 --> 01:49:38,880
And the truth is, it's going to take
a long time and it is going

1810
01:49:38,880 --> 01:49:41,880
to be very expensive,
arguably too expensive

1811
01:49:41,880 --> 01:49:43,920
compared to the cost of renewables.

1812
01:49:43,920 --> 01:49:46,400
Well, of course, what nuclear
provides is a base load,

1813
01:49:46,400 --> 01:49:49,040
which renewables don't. And the
truth is, we need everything,

1814
01:49:49,040 --> 01:49:51,160
and nuclear is an important
part of that.

1815
01:49:51,160 --> 01:49:55,760
And I think international bodies
have said they can't see a way

1816
01:49:55,760 --> 01:49:57,760
to net zero in 2050 for the world

1817
01:49:57,760 --> 01:49:59,880
if nuclear isn't part of that.

1818
01:49:59,880 --> 01:50:02,520
And we're determined to make
the UK a world leader.

1819
01:50:02,520 --> 01:50:04,680
Now, you talk about small
modular plants.

1820
01:50:04,680 --> 01:50:07,280
We've already discussed how long
it takes, for example, to get

1821
01:50:07,280 --> 01:50:10,320
a new large nuclear reactor built.

1822
01:50:10,320 --> 01:50:14,320
15 years of planning at Sizewell C,
at least. Now you're saying,

1823
01:50:14,320 --> 01:50:16,040
"We want to reinvent nuclear power

1824
01:50:16,040 --> 01:50:18,600
"and do these small-scale
modular reactors,"

1825
01:50:18,600 --> 01:50:20,360
and yet this is a new product.

1826
01:50:20,360 --> 01:50:24,320
It is going to take, not just years,
decades before this is ready

1827
01:50:24,320 --> 01:50:25,960
to roll out, is it?

1828
01:50:25,960 --> 01:50:28,480
You're not a very optimistic person!

1829
01:50:28,480 --> 01:50:31,560
One of the great benefits
of SMRs is replicability.

1830
01:50:31,560 --> 01:50:34,800
So, just as we're...Sizewell
will be a copy of Hinkley,

1831
01:50:34,800 --> 01:50:38,840
so that we can learn by doing
and speed up production,

1832
01:50:38,840 --> 01:50:41,320
become more efficient, lower costs,

1833
01:50:41,320 --> 01:50:44,320
the same thing, in spades,
applies to SMRs,

1834
01:50:44,320 --> 01:50:46,240
but none have been built yet.

1835
01:50:46,240 --> 01:50:48,040
That's the idea behind it,

1836
01:50:48,040 --> 01:50:49,960
but I recognise it's challenging.

1837
01:50:49,960 --> 01:50:51,360
We can do this,

1838
01:50:51,360 --> 01:50:55,080
and my message overall on
net zero is, "We can do this."

1839
01:50:55,080 --> 01:50:57,880
You've got to believe.
You can always have the doubters

1840
01:50:57,880 --> 01:51:00,480
and the sceptics at your heels.

1841
01:51:00,480 --> 01:51:04,120
We're leading, the world
is following, and we can do this,

1842
01:51:04,120 --> 01:51:06,360
and nuclear is part of the mix.

1843
01:51:11,480 --> 01:51:17,200
But generating enough green
electricity is not the only problem.

1844
01:51:17,200 --> 01:51:20,560
Even if the nuclear power stations
are built on time,

1845
01:51:20,560 --> 01:51:24,800
even if the planning system
allows for more onshore wind,

1846
01:51:24,800 --> 01:51:27,560
even if there's all the solar,
the batteries

1847
01:51:27,560 --> 01:51:31,200
and the hydroelectric power
that's needed,

1848
01:51:31,200 --> 01:51:34,920
we might not be able to get
all this new electricity

1849
01:51:34,920 --> 01:51:37,600
on to the National Grid.

1850
01:51:37,600 --> 01:51:40,880
Tens of billions of pounds' worth
of green energy projects

1851
01:51:40,880 --> 01:51:44,000
are currently on hold
because of a lack of capacity

1852
01:51:44,000 --> 01:51:45,960
in the National Grid.

1853
01:51:45,960 --> 01:51:50,080
Britain's electricity network is
owned and operated by a series

1854
01:51:50,080 --> 01:51:54,040
of private companies,
and it's been reported that some

1855
01:51:54,040 --> 01:51:58,840
green energy projects are waiting
up to 15 years to get plugged in.

1856
01:52:04,240 --> 01:52:07,320
MICHELLE: Connecting up all the new
wind farms, solar panels,

1857
01:52:07,320 --> 01:52:11,880
practically doubling our electricity
use, means a huge national upgrade

1858
01:52:11,880 --> 01:52:13,360
in the network.

1859
01:52:15,480 --> 01:52:18,920
I've come to London to try to
understand the scale of the job

1860
01:52:18,920 --> 01:52:20,960
the National Grid is facing.

1861
01:52:22,080 --> 01:52:24,040
Well, I'm looking forward to this!

1862
01:52:24,040 --> 01:52:26,000
This is Sarah.

1863
01:52:26,000 --> 01:52:28,400
Sarah Woolham-Jaffier
is in charge of one of their

1864
01:52:28,400 --> 01:52:31,160
biggest infrastructure projects.

1865
01:52:31,160 --> 01:52:32,800
Come on down.
Let's do it.

1866
01:52:37,440 --> 01:52:39,880
They're building 20 miles of tunnels

1867
01:52:39,880 --> 01:52:43,240
to carry huge new electricity
cables under London.

1868
01:52:51,720 --> 01:52:53,160
Oh, wow!

1869
01:52:54,480 --> 01:52:56,480
So how far down are we now, Sarah?

1870
01:52:56,480 --> 01:52:59,600
We're just over 30 metres deep,
and we're here in Brixton,

1871
01:52:59,600 --> 01:53:01,680
and then this tunnel
goes all the way to Wimbledon.

1872
01:53:03,120 --> 01:53:07,600
The new 40,000-volt cables
will help to charge all those new

1873
01:53:07,600 --> 01:53:12,600
electric cars and power the
electric pumps heating our homes.

1874
01:53:12,600 --> 01:53:15,160
Are you ready?
Let's give it a go.

1875
01:53:15,160 --> 01:53:18,720
Some of the tunnels are so long,
mechanics and installers need bikes

1876
01:53:18,720 --> 01:53:20,560
to get around.

1877
01:53:20,560 --> 01:53:23,120
There's a nice breeze.
Yeah, it's lovely!

1878
01:53:23,120 --> 01:53:27,720
Even this single project will take
four more years to complete,

1879
01:53:27,720 --> 01:53:31,880
but if the grid is to hit its
targets, they need to do much more

1880
01:53:31,880 --> 01:53:33,800
than just this one tunnel.

1881
01:53:33,800 --> 01:53:38,080
Typically, National Grid would only
be building one to two projects

1882
01:53:38,080 --> 01:53:40,360
of this scale,

1883
01:53:40,360 --> 01:53:42,840
and now we're talking about 17,
what we call major projects

1884
01:53:42,840 --> 01:53:45,120
across National Grid in the UK.

1885
01:53:48,760 --> 01:53:53,200
The problem is a lot of the
new power will come from wind farms

1886
01:53:53,200 --> 01:53:55,440
in Scotland and out at sea.

1887
01:53:55,440 --> 01:53:59,520
That electricity needs to be
carried to the big cities,

1888
01:53:59,520 --> 01:54:04,440
and that means thousands of new
high-voltage cables, pylons...

1889
01:54:05,800 --> 01:54:08,000
..substations, battery storage...

1890
01:54:09,800 --> 01:54:12,040
..and of course, that takes time.

1891
01:54:15,080 --> 01:54:18,560
Sarah, how long has it taken to
get to this point now?

1892
01:54:18,560 --> 01:54:21,440
So we've been tunnelling
for over two years.

1893
01:54:21,440 --> 01:54:24,760
This section of tunnel started
in March 2020.

1894
01:54:24,760 --> 01:54:27,280
So it takes a long time
to complete.

1895
01:54:29,160 --> 01:54:31,760
It takes a considerable
number of years of planning.

1896
01:54:31,760 --> 01:54:36,160
So there's hundreds
of landowners and utilities

1897
01:54:36,160 --> 01:54:38,480
that we need to cooperate with.

1898
01:54:40,400 --> 01:54:43,880
We started developing this project
in 2008,

1899
01:54:43,880 --> 01:54:47,040
and so it can be over a decade
in many cases.

1900
01:54:49,720 --> 01:54:52,800
The National Grid has admitted
that they're struggling to meet

1901
01:54:52,800 --> 01:54:56,640
new demands, which they blame
on excessive regulation.

1902
01:54:58,440 --> 01:55:01,160
They say the necessary upgrades
could cost

1903
01:55:01,160 --> 01:55:05,040
tens of billions of pounds and
suggest prices will need to rise.

1904
01:55:13,280 --> 01:55:16,600
JUSTIN: Emma Pinchbeck
is the CEO of Energy UK...

1905
01:55:16,600 --> 01:55:19,400
Hey, Emma, how are you doing? I'm
all right, thank you. How are you?

1906
01:55:19,400 --> 01:55:21,360
Good to see you.
You're working late.

1907
01:55:21,360 --> 01:55:23,960
..the organisation that represents
the power generators

1908
01:55:23,960 --> 01:55:25,840
and the National Grid.

1909
01:55:25,840 --> 01:55:29,480
The National Grid simply
isn't fit for purpose, is it?

1910
01:55:29,480 --> 01:55:31,800
I think we should be honest
about the scale

1911
01:55:31,800 --> 01:55:33,720
of the challenge ahead.

1912
01:55:33,720 --> 01:55:36,680
We've got to grow the
electricity sector by

1913
01:55:36,680 --> 01:55:40,400
two to three times its current
size over the next decade.

1914
01:55:40,400 --> 01:55:43,640
It's physically possible to do this,
but the way we fund

1915
01:55:43,640 --> 01:55:46,720
grid infrastructure in the UK
is highly regulated

1916
01:55:46,720 --> 01:55:49,880
and a lot of that regulation
is not fit for purpose.

1917
01:55:49,880 --> 01:55:52,600
And so we need to make sure
everything speeds up

1918
01:55:52,600 --> 01:55:55,160
so we can fund the things
in the places we need.

1919
01:55:55,160 --> 01:55:59,000
That sounds like a very clever
answer, but there isn't the capacity

1920
01:55:59,000 --> 01:56:01,760
for new renewable projects
to plug into the grid.

1921
01:56:01,760 --> 01:56:05,280
There's a huge queue waiting,
some of them for 15 years, Emma!

1922
01:56:05,280 --> 01:56:09,440
Some of the grid connections are
taking far too long to come through,

1923
01:56:09,440 --> 01:56:12,080
and in my job, what's changed over
the last five years

1924
01:56:12,080 --> 01:56:14,280
has been this is
no longer about money.

1925
01:56:14,280 --> 01:56:16,960
It's about things like wires
in the ground or enough people

1926
01:56:16,960 --> 01:56:18,560
to build the kit.

1927
01:56:18,560 --> 01:56:21,680
I'm worried, but it's not true
to say we can't manage it.

1928
01:56:21,680 --> 01:56:24,600
The system operator is confident
that they can absorb the amount

1929
01:56:24,600 --> 01:56:27,600
of renewables we're planning to put
on the system over the next decade.

1930
01:56:27,600 --> 01:56:29,320
But you're right at the problem.

1931
01:56:29,320 --> 01:56:33,000
The reason I'm kicking against
the question is that I am so done

1932
01:56:33,000 --> 01:56:35,880
with people explaining to the energy
sector that we haven't thought

1933
01:56:35,880 --> 01:56:38,440
about the fact that wind doesn't
blow and the sun doesn't shine.

1934
01:56:38,440 --> 01:56:40,480
We know that. That's factored in.

1935
01:56:40,480 --> 01:56:42,520
We still think we can do it.

1936
01:56:47,000 --> 01:56:50,080
This energy revolution
holds out so much promise -

1937
01:56:50,080 --> 01:56:53,600
new technologies,
new industries, new jobs.

1938
01:56:53,600 --> 01:56:56,080
But it is not going to be easy.

1939
01:56:56,080 --> 01:56:58,880
Would you want to be in charge
of getting planning permission

1940
01:56:58,880 --> 01:57:01,800
for all those new wind turbines
and solar farms?

1941
01:57:01,800 --> 01:57:05,080
And what about getting the go-ahead
for a new nuclear plant?

1942
01:57:05,080 --> 01:57:09,760
What makes it all the more difficult
is it's all got to be done by 2050,

1943
01:57:09,760 --> 01:57:12,560
which is why
it is no exaggeration to say

1944
01:57:12,560 --> 01:57:15,280
this is one of
the greatest challenges

1945
01:57:15,280 --> 01:57:17,320
our country has ever faced.

1946
01:57:23,720 --> 01:57:26,560
To find out more about
the challenges of our journey

1947
01:57:26,560 --> 01:57:30,000
to net zero, and what you can do
to make more of an impact,

1948
01:57:30,000 --> 01:57:31,760
go to...

1949
01:57:34,440 --> 01:57:36,840
..and follow the link
to the Open University.