Written question asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Marland (Conservative) on Thursday, 13 October 2011.

Energy: Wind Generation

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are initiating studies of how the future availability of wind and solar energy in different regions of the United Kingdom is likely to be affected by climate change, especially in periods of low wind and extensive cloud cover.

Answer: DECC has commissioned the Met Office, through the Hadley Centre Climate Programme that DECC co-funds, to (i) scope the department's requirements for Met Office support on meteorological aspects of wind energy variations and (ii) undertake a study on the historical occurrence of low wind periods in the UK, to inform DECC's 2050 work. In addition, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) funds the UK Climate Change Projections, an iterative process known as UKCP09. In relation to solar energy, UKCP09 includes projections on cloud cover, net surface longwave and shortwave flux and total downward surface shortwave flux. Details of the projections can be accessed at http://ukclimateprojections.defra.gov.uk/content/view/12/689/.

Secondary information