Net Zero Zeroing Out

Solar and wind power have grown to a mere 3.5% of primary energy production. The levelized cost of renewable energy--which measures of the net value of electricity produced over a plant’s lifetime--has declined sharply over the years. But this has not resulted into lower electricity prices. In fact, as the share of energy mix provided by renewables has risen, electricity prices have tended to increase. That’s because wind and solar power are intermittent. Since storing energy in batteries is uneconomic, traditional sources of power are still needed as backup, which is expensive.

Europe’s oil and gas giants are increasingly scaling back their climate goals as they struggle to deliver on their ambitious clean energy pledges.

In February Equinor scrapped a pledge to devote more than 50% of its gross capital expenditure to renewables and low carbon solutions by 2030. Equinor has also abandoned plans to invest in Vietnam’s offshore wind sector, dealing a significant blow to the country’s green energy ambitions.

Also, Shell has announced plans to cease new offshore wind investments. Shell, like Equinor, appears to be systematically scaling back its clean energy investments. ⁽²⁾

Five years ago, BP made an astonishing promise to slash its oil and gas production by 40% by 2030, while increasing green energy generation twentyfold and becoming net zero. Now along with other big Western oil companies, it has abandoned those farcical green promises and recommitted to its primary activity: fossil fuels. ⁽³⁾

Sixty-five of the world’s largest banks put $869 billion in funding to gas, oil and coal companies last year. It was an increase of 23% from the year before. ⁽⁴⁾

United Kingdom

The UK Conservative Party has abandoned the ‘impossible’ net zero 2050 target in a major U-turn, overturning a decades long cross-party consensus on tackling the climate emergency. ⁽³⁾

After years of government subsidies, media cheerleading, and financial markets popping up a house of cards, a hedge fund manager has come forward to say what many have known all along. The so-called clean energy sector is ‘dead for now.’ Nishant Gupta, founder and chief investment officer at London-based Kanou Capital LLP, didn’t mince words when describing the dire state of solar, wind, hydrogen, and fuel investments. ⁽⁴⁾

The British public has been seduced by narratives that renewables are cheap, believing them because the wind and sun are ‘free’, and ignoring the fact that the machines necessary to convert their energy to electricity are very far from being free, and for the most part are actually very expensive. That renewables are not cheap should be clear, based both on the evidence that after 35 years of subsidies, there have been no benefits through lower bills. Indeed, the evidence suggests that consumers would have been almost 220 billion pounds better off financially had the energy transition not been attempted. ⁽⁵⁾

Overall, excluding carbon taxes and smart meters, 44% of the increase in UK energy bills since 2018 have been due to the government’s pursuit of net zero. And one can expect net zero costs to increase substantially as more intermittent renewables are added to the network. ⁽⁶⁾

A leaked Whitehall assessment has revealed that the UK’s rush to achieve net zero could wipe 10 percent off economic growth by 2030 and potentially trigger a financial crash. The document contains stark warnings about the economic consequences of poorly planned carbon neutrality efforts. ⁽⁷⁾

How much does the UK government spend on net zero? The quantifiable costs add up to 24 billion pounds a year. ⁽⁸⁾ The UK’s fiscal watchdog has said the move to a net zero economy will cost taxpayers more than 800 billion pounds over the next two decades.

Australia

The Australian Government took at least $440 of each person’s money in 2025 and spent it on electrical hobgoblins that claim to make nicer weather in a hundred years. That’s $1,800 for each family of four, in order to reduce world temperatures by nothing in their lifetimes, reports Jo Nova. ⁽⁹⁾

United States

From New York to California, state renewable electrical power dreams are collapsing. Power demands soar while the federal government cuts funding and support for wind, solar, and grid batteries. Renewables cannot provide enough power to support the artificial intelligence revolution. The net zero electricity transition is failing in the United States. ⁽¹⁰⁾

The cost of wind, solar, and batteries is hurting the renewable electricity transition. Electricity rates in California, the epicenter of green energy, have risen 116% in the last 16 years, more than three times the national average increase of 33%. California’s residential electricity prices are now over 30 cents per kilowatt-hour, the second highest in the nation. Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Rhode Island complete the top five for the highest US power costs--all states with aggressive green electricity goals.

California’s green and net zero policymakers that wish to transition away from fossil fuels have focused on reducing just the supply of in-state oil production and refining to reduce emissions but have offered no backup plan to maintain the supply chain of the products and fuels to support the 4^th largest economy in the world.

The states’ contribution to global emissions is a small percentage, roughly 0.75%. To put that into perspective, if the ‘big earthquake’ hit California and the entire state fell into the Pacific Ocean, there would be less than 1% reduction in worldwide emissions. The amount of money paid by the 40 million Californians to meet these net zero green policies is staggering. ⁽¹¹⁾

The Net Zero Jeopardy Report II found that only 16% of senior energy executives interviewed now believe the world can achieve net zero by 2050, down from 45% last year. (12)

New York is mandating a huge increase in electricity demand by 2030 at the same time that the state is mandating the dismantling of the existing reliable electricity generation with no credible plan to replace it. ⁽¹³⁾

Six of America’s largest banks, Citigroup, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo, have made an exodus from the leading climate alliance. These six banks among them have a market share of more than 25% of the entire US banking industry. ⁽¹⁴⁾

The Tech-Giants are backing away. Microsoft and Google have given up. They’re not bragging about their carbon neutrality anymore. Not now that their emissions have increased 29% and 50% respectively in the last four or five years. ⁽¹⁵⁾

References

1. Edward Chancellor, “Climate policy requires a more realistic approach,” joannenova.com.au, March 17, 2025
2. Iex Kimani, “Big oil retreats: Europe’s energy giants ditch green pledges,” principia-scientific.com, March 28, 2025
3. Bjorn Lomborg, “Green goals crumble as businesses prioritize growth and profits,” climatechangedispatch.com, April 16, 2025
4. Jo Nova, “Global banks retreat from trying to change the climate and pour $900 billion into fossil fuels,” joannenova.com.au, June 26, 2025
5. Will Jones, “Tories abandon net zero,” wattsupwiththat.com, March 25, 2025
6. Rhoda Wilson, 44% of the increase in UK energy bills is due to net zero,” expose-news.com, May 26, 2025
7. Holly Bishop, “Net zero could crash Britain’s economy with poorest in society hit hardest, leaked document admits,” gbnews.com, March 20, 2025
8. Paul Homewood, “How much does the UK government spend on net zero?”, wattsupwiththat.com, June 15, 2025
9. Jo Nova, “Labor net zero obsession: Australians don’t know they’re spending $12,000 million dollars a year to fix the weather,” joannenova.com.au, June 5, 2025
10. Steve Goreham, “State net zero electricity dreams are collapsing,” energycentral.com, June 20, 2025
11. Ronald Stein, “California’s net zero emissions plan is a national security risk for America,” climatedepot.com, July 1, 2025
12. “Confidence in net zero collapsing,” renews.biz, February 19, 2025
13. Francis Menton, “New York’s net zero utopia is unravelling fast,” principia-scientific.com, March 4, 2025\
14. Paul Teller, “Big banks retreat from climate alliance is encouraging step in dismantling the ESG agenda/woke capitalism,” realclearenergy.org, January 12, 2025
15. Charles Rotter, “The great retreat: a eulogy for the net zero managers initiative,” wattsupwiththat.com, January 14, 2025