Economics of future energy systems

In making a transition away from an energy system dominated by fossil fuels, one of the factors that will influence the make-up of the future market will be the economics of new energy systems. Here we look at three such systems; fusion, marine and solar technologies, with the emphasis on the UK context. In each case it is assumed that the technology is successfully developed. Fusion is just making the transition from the laboratory to industrial scale with the forthcoming construction of a power station-scale device (designed to produce 500 MW of fusion power). Marine technology is in a similar position and is already producing power in prototypical systems. Solar power is more advanced with uses particularly in the built environment and other niche applications but requires major mass manufacturing to make a large market impact. These systems, possible developments and their likely economics are studied under comparable economic assumptions. This is not intended merely to show which is likely to be the cheapest option, since the role in a future market depends on far more than simply cost, but to elucidate the conditions under which the systems can be expected to play a substantial role in a future market.