The future of energy use after lockdown: 4 key questions

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on every aspect of life, and the environment is no exception.

Reports have shown that emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) –主要温室气体, accounting for 81% of total UK greenhouse gas emissions – have fallen as lockdown brought with it huge changes to the way we create and consume energy.

In the UK, 58% of people believe the government should prioritise the environment as part of the economic recovery from Covid-19. But, with restrictions easing around the world and energy demands creeping higher again, just how possible is it to keep emissions low and what does the future look like?

Here are four key questions to consider:

1. Can we keep on working from home?

当英国锁定时，数以百万计的人转向远程工作，因为企业关门，如果可以的话，要求员工在家工作。美国工作习惯的这种变化使道路上的汽车数量大大减少，以及为大型办公楼和零售空间提供动力所需的能量。

It is widely thought that by maintaining these remote working habits – or at least some of them – there will be a more sustainable drop in emissions.

However,WSP的研究，一家专门从事工程的伦敦咨询公司，建议需要适应一年中不同季节的全国工作风格，以降低碳足迹。

In the summer, working from home saves around 400kg of carbon emissions, the equivalent of 5% of a typical British commuter’s annual carbon footprint, because homeworking staff cut out their carbon emissions from their commute.

However, the firm found that if an average employee worked at home all year round, they would produce actually 2.5 tonnes of carbon per year – around 80% more than an office worker. That’s because most heating systems in the UK heat the whole house, producing far more carbon emissions than what would be produced from the commute.

因此，为了长期减少碳排放，远程工人将需要考虑更有效的供暖方式，或者更有效地进行上班的方式，也可以考虑到季节。

2. What will the travel industry look like?

运输占二氧化碳总排放量的23％。因此，在锁定期间施加的飞行取消和旅行限制导致这些排放量的急剧下降，因为政府建议人们对除基本国际旅行以外的所有人的所有行为。

但是，随着航空公司开始重新引入更多的航班和气架生效，随着人们再次进入天空，这些排放可能再次开始上升。

In order to reduce emissions in the longer-term and help the UK meet its target for net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, more needs to be done to when it comes to travel.

航空是增长最快的温室气体排放的贡献者，因此削减飞行并选择替代旅行方式是减少碳足迹的最简单方法之一。

If you do need to fly, you can at least offset emissions; there’s plenty ofinformation online on how best to do this.

3. Will the pandemic supercharge the electric vehicle market?

不仅是导致污染的飞机，而且每天也有污染。政府已经意识到这一点，并为促进电动汽车的销售而宣布，新柴油和汽油汽车的销售将在2035年完全停在英国。reports该禁令可能会早日进行。

But as the government strives to hit tough zero-carbon emissions targets, will the pandemic supercharge the electric vehicle (EV) market?

There has certainly been a big rise in sales of greener vehicles. According to data from industry analysts Jato Dynamics, battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and other hybrid cars accounted for 17% of car sales across all European markets, including the UK in April. The data also found buyers were more likely to opt for electric and hybrid cars, even as overall sales of cars fell.

As restrictions continue to ease and more people get back on the roads, interest in electric vehicles will need to remain high in order to keep emissions down.

Thereis already financial support in place to encourage people to go electric, as the government continues to push the future of travel towards EVs.

4.免费电力将成为我们能源未来的一部分吗？

It might sound counterintuitive, but during the pandemic there have been instances of consumers being paid to use energy.

Paying customers to use power is often a much simpler solution for grid operators than having to shut down generating facilities when there is too much power in the system.

During the lockdown, reports showed that electricity consumption was down by 15% across Europe, yet a very sunny and windy spring season meant that supplies of renewable energy were up.

在欧洲，批发电力在未来一天的每小时每小时定价，因此供应量很高，需求低，意味着价格可以低于零。实际上，这发生在四月份在英国的66次。

Consumers who are signed up to flexible,敏捷关税could find themselves encouraged to use electricity when the price goes below negative. This happened to customers of energy supplier Octopus during lockdown. Perfect for those customers with an EV or home battery to charge, or with electric water heating or indeed for those able to shift their load to periods of negative pricing.

As the UK moves towards a greener future, with more renewable energy sources in use and advances in energy storage capabilities, more and more people could get paid to use energy.

可以肯定的是：在这个国家，能源的产生，消耗和支付的方式将在未来几年中继续发生巨大变化。

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使用循环，您可以找出如何使用电力，然后做出明智的决定，少点击 - 单击这里了解更多。我们有无风险的，无Quibble，退款保证的标准保证，因此，除了您的账单和碳足迹的重量外，还要损失什么……除了一些£££？