Mr. Robert Watt:

My view, which I hope is consistent with Government policy, is that the only way to achieve progress is the electrification of transport and heat, which will involve significant decarbonisation of electricity and more renewables. There is a technical challenge in how much more intermittent power we can put on the grid. Deputy Ryan was involved in these debates when he was the Minister a few years ago. It is not entirely clear or straightforward in terms of what the share of renewables in the network can be. It is a difficult issue. As well as the further decarbonisation of the electricity sector we also have the electrification of heat and transport. Transport will involve electric vehicles becoming more widespread. I presume when it comes to heating residential buildings that the price of heat pumps will have to reduce with a combination of renewables. It will be done through technology over the coming years if we have the right structures in place and the right pricing. I do not know about heat pumps but certainly the price of batteries is falling quite dramatically. If we can store all of this cheap electricity in batteries it will have a transformative effect when it comes to climate and society. The big change will be falls in the price of batteries and the extent to which devolved electricity networks can ensure we decarbonise. Then we will have the electrification of the heat and transport systems. It will look very different in the coming 20 or 30 years.