Could this REALLY be the most environmentally-friendly form of electricity?

In this week’s gossage, we’ll explore the UK’s first climate assembly and what the randomly selected members of the public thought about the UK’s climate policies. Turns out it was an insightful meeting, maybe not for all the right reasons… 

In January 2020, over 100 randomly selected members of the public met in a secret location to begin taking part in the UK’s first ‘climate assembly.’ Lasting five months, the assembly asked citizens to listen to advice from climate experts before coming up with a list of recommendations for how the country should reach net-zero emissions by 2050. 

Regarding electricity, there was extremely strong support for renewables – particularly offshore wind power. In other areas, however, support was somewhat lower, with assembly members expressing serious doubts over the costs and benefits both of nuclear and of bioenergy, as well as advocating for a conservative (small C!)  approach to some cutting-edge clean technologies, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) and direct air capture (DAC) systems. 

But above all, the assembly concluded that the most environmentally-friendly form of electricity occurred when its use was avoided. Well, who would have guessed it?