Media releases

New independent research into the views of the UK’s energy professional community has been published today, raising concerns that progress towards decarbonisation commitments will become significantly more challenging.

The Energy Barometer is the EI’s annual state-of-the-nation member survey designed to inform the public debate about energy and provide an expert sense check on government policy. This year’s report, UK Power Shift, is a retrospective look at the decade since the survey started and, looking forward, the first comprehensive assessment by those working across all areas of energy since power shifted at the General Election.

Andy Brown FEI, EI President and Ørsted Deputy Chair, said:

“The new UK Government has hit the ground running on energy, with achievements already under its belt. But greater ambition brings with it more challenges and the EI’s members currently foresee a delivery gap ahead on the journey to net zero by 2050.

“Great strides have been made in decarbonising our electricity supplies, but the goal of clean power by 2030 has pushed grid build out, modernisation and access to the top of our members’ concerns. And to meet the UK’s wider emission reduction goals, we also need to see the enabling infrastructure and incentives for cleaner transport and heating.

“Looking at the lessons of the past decade, more than two thirds of our members call for fewer political distractions and more evidence in energy policy. Improving energy literacy among parliamentarians, civil servants, media and the public, and facilitating greater interchange between Whitehall and industry, will help build the foundations for a smoother journey to net zero.”  

Energy Barometer 2024: UK Power Shift has five headline findings:

1. Solutions to the "energy trilemma" of security, sustainability and affordability are increasingly converging rather than competing, with energy efficiency the stand-out solution to all three. Energy security continues to be seen by survey respondents as one of the greatest challenges facing the UK, but it is no longer defined by simply securing fossil fuel supplies. There are still trade-offs, but the survey suggests some of the same approaches can help address all three aspects simultaneously. Energy efficiency stands out as the most immediate and impactful solution - maintaining energy security, advancing the energy transition, alleviating cost-of-living pressures and fuel poverty - alongside maintaining a diverse mix of homegrown energy sources, conventional and renewable.
2. Despite success in shifting to cleaner power in the UK, grid and energy infrastructure has become the foremost concern for the first time in the Energy Barometer’s ten-year history. 84% of respondents acknowledge progress in decarbonising the electricity grid as the biggest UK energy success story of the past decade but, looking forward, they are clear that the Government’s central goal of 100% clean power by 2030 faces considerable hurdles. For the first time in the Barometer’s history, the electricity grid and energy infrastructure are seen as the biggest energy-related challenge facing UK. Enhancing the grid and speeding up connection times are singled out as the overriding priorities for clean power out to 2030, by some considerable margin.
3. Simultaneous electrification of large parts of the economy requires enabling infrastructure and incentives for low carbon transport and heating. Clean power alone will not achieve the UK’s energy goals without the simultaneous electrification across the economy. The connection between grid modernisation and transport decarbonisation is evident in the survey results, with 61% highlighting the expansion of EV charging infrastructure as a top priority to accelerate electric vehicle adoption. The shift to low carbon heating remains challenging, with respondents calling for economic incentives and enabling policies to make solutions such as heat pumps more accessible and affordable.
4. There is presently low confidence among energy professionals that the UK will meet its 2035 and 2050 carbon targets. Even with encouraging early actions and signals from the new Government, confidence in meeting the UK’s emission reduction targets is low. Only 15% of respondents believes the UK will meet or exceed its 2035 carbon emission reduction goal. Confidence in reaching net zero by 2050 is lower still, at just 4%. Like most developed economies, the UK still has much to do to implement its ambitious commitments to avert the worse impacts of climate change.
5. The overriding lesson of the past decade is that the UK needs a coherent, long-term energy strategy, that is shaped more by evidence and expertise than politics. 64% of respondents consider government policy to be the key determinant of change in the UK energy system over the past decade, even more so than the effects of external events such as the Ukraine war and Covid.  However, many remain frustrated by a lack of coherent, long-term strategies. Progress in energy over the past decade is seen by 70% of respondents as falling victim to competing political pressures, whilst 66% say policy should be more evidence-based, with specific recommendations including enhancing energy literacy across parliamentarians, civil servants, media and the general public, underpinned by greater interaction between Whitehall and industry.

Commenting on the value of the Energy Barometer, Prof Jim Skea CBE FRSE FEI HonFSE, IPCC Chair and EI past President 2015-2017, said:

“I can’t believe it’s now 10 years since we first launched the Energy Barometer. We thought that policymakers, the media and the public needed to hear from professionals about the challenges facing a sector which has been much in the news. We needed to inform wider policy debates. I am so pleased the initiative has thrived and look forward, once again, to reading the findings”

Marta Zambujal de Oliveira, Chair of the EI’s London Young Professionals Network and Senior Associate at Ikigai Group, commented:

“Younger professionals in energy are going to be around longer, so we’ve been glad to have our say in the Barometer survey and also to convene discussions on the change needed in the sector. Four points come up repeatedly: it’s complex so we need a whole-system approach and robust policy; it will increasingly affect all jobs so skills building is vital; pragmatism and bankability are key for accelerated investment; and it’s not business as usual so we need a willingness to challenge the status quo.”

Around 300 professionals from across the UK’s energy sector contributed to the project during September and October this year. They are drawn from the EI’s fellowship and professional membership, through to its young professional and student community, and from across sectors, from oil and gas to renewables, energy and carbon management, hydrogen, waste-to-energy and carbon capture and storage. Participants engaged with the research team anonymously and independent of their employers.

Notes for editors

1. For media enquiries, please contact Neil Michie, EI Head of Communications and Marketing 020 7467 7132, nmichie@energyinst.org
2. The Energy Barometer is the EI’s long-running, annual research report based on the views and perspectives of its members and other experts in energy. Energy Barometer 2024: UK Power Shift is available here.
3. The Energy Institute (EI) is the chartered professional membership body for people who work across the world of energy. Our purpose is to create a better energy future for our members and society by accelerating a just global energy transition to net zero. We do this by attracting, developing and equipping the diverse future energy workforce; informing energy decision-making through convening expertise and advice; and enabling industry and consumers to make energy lower carbon, safer and more efficient. @EnergyInstitute