United Kingdom’s Energy Issues

Britain plans that by 2030 it will produce 95% of its electricity from so-called green sources with 5% coming from gas. Yet there is no back-up scale for intermittent breezes and sunbeams and this has been obvious for some time, although the subject is rarely discussed in mainstream media and politics. ⁽¹⁾

In November 2024 Britain’s wind power was set to plummet to almost zero as the country presses ahead with plans to cut dependency on gas and increase the nation’s reliance on intermittent renewable energy. ⁽²⁾

Reserve gas generation is the only game in town if all life in Britain is not to grind to a halt during a windless winter freeze. But keeping an entire fleet of gas turbines on standby will cost a huge amount of money, causing electricity prices to soar.

British companies are paying the highest electricity prices of anywhere in the developed world. The cost for industrial businesses has jumped 124 percent in just five years. It is now about 50 percent more expensive than in Germany and France, and four times as expensive as in the US. ⁽³⁾

Much of the UK has seen zero hours of sunshine in November, and light winds have already hit many areas. Yet UK representatives are expected to pledge to cut CO2 emissions by 240 million tons, or 60% of their 2022 levels by 2035. They will also confirm plans to decarbonize the UK electricity system by 2030, by ending the use of the UK’s 32 main gas fired power stations.

Britain’s drive for decarbonization is increasingly seen as an economic experiment—one that risks tipping the UK from miniscule economic growth into full-scale decline. Since decarbonization efforts commenced, Britain’s economy has grown at half the rate as it did from 1990-2008. This is the second worst period of peacetime growth since 1780. ⁽⁴⁾

The UK, although no longer part of the EU, has continued aggressive climate policies that have driven up energy prices for its citizens and industry. The once world leading United Kingdom now has a per capita income lower than even the poorest state in the United States.

As politicians in England proudly declare the UK as world leader, other nations are sensibly beginning to backtrack

The UK closed its last operational coal power plant, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, which has been operating since 1968. The closure of the plant brought to an end the history of the country’s coal use, which started with the opening of the first coal fired power station in 1882. Coal played a central part in the UK’s power system in the interim, in some years providing over 90 percent of its total electricity. ⁽⁵⁾

Britain has agreed to a new target of cutting emissions 81 percent by 2035, for its new NDC. In case you’re wondering, NDC is United Nation-ese for Nationally Developed Contribution. But it just as well could be called NBS for National Bankruptcy for Britain. Because what the government has planned is nothing short of taking Britain’s development back decades. ⁽⁶⁾

Normally ‘climate change’ costs are secretly buried in bills, hidden in rising costs and blamed on ‘old unreliable coal plants’, inflation or foreign wars. But the immense pain of Net Zero can’t be disguised.

Jo Nova reported, “For a pensioner on 186 pounds a week it could cost as much as an 87 pounds a week penalty for driving their car, or 4,500 pounds a year.” ⁽⁷⁾

As politicians in England proudly declare the UK as world leader, other nations are sensibly beginning to backtrack.

No One Following

In China and much of the rest of the developing world, net zero appears to mean nothing at all beyond their usefulness in undermining the West. Economic growth is routinely prioritized over climate change goals. ⁽⁸⁾

Similarly, in the US, which pays lip service to net zero while simultaneously celebrating its position as the world’s largest oil producer, big tax breaks for fracking go hand in hand with the hundreds of billions the Biden administration is pouring into the green energy transition.

Even holier than thou little Norway, which aims to be carbon neutral by 2030, seeks to extend the life of its North Sea oil and gas reserves long into the future with big ongoing incentives to invest.

New Zealand is meanwhile is in wholesale retreat from its environmental commitments.

Only in the UK does the torch of net zero still burn strong. Even Brussels demonstrates at least a modicum of common sense on these matters. ⁽⁸⁾

Wind Issues

Britain has invested 1.25 billion pounds in wind power, making it the country’s biggest renewable energy source. However, opponents point to figures which reveal that on some days wind farms make as little as 0.5 percent of the nation’s electricity demand, and are only profitable because of the massive subsidies paid to operators. ⁽⁹⁾

If ever anything summed up just how broken the energy market is, it in the part of the UK with the highest level of fuel poverty where folks are paying 2 million pounds to one of the ‘Big Six’ energy firms not to use the wind farm they have just built.

Last year the UK lost the better part of one billion pounds in curtailment costs created by having to shut down windfarms due to overcapacity and bottlenecking in their National Grid. One estimate found that curtailment was already costing the average household 40 pounds per year in 2023, and could more than triple by 2026. ⁽¹⁰⁾

The Beatrice Offshore Windfarm has become the fourth windfarm to have received more than one billion pounds in subsidy payments. The landmark was reached in just its seventh year of operation, suggesting that is could reach 2 billion pounds over the course of its subsidy agreement.

Strict laws will force all new builds to be fitted with electric heat pumps or non-gas alternatives

Consumer levies will pay for almost the entire cost of the windfarm. The profits are ultimately shared by SSE and the Danish investment house, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. ⁽¹¹⁾

In addition to all this, gas boilers will be banned from all new homes within three years under UK government plans.

Strict laws will force all new builds to be fitted with electric heat pumps or non-gas alternatives in a bid to cut emissions by 80 percent. It comes as part of the government’s plan to create a clean power grid by 2030.

Fears have been raised that suppliers will not be able to provide enough heat pumps to replace banned gas boilers. Currently, only about 35,000 heat pumps are installed each year. Boosting that to 300,000 a year, nearly 10 times more, in three years seems like a stretch. ⁽¹²⁾

Lastly, what happens if much of the vital data behind the climate change threat is made up? Turns out, quite a lot is. It’s been recently reported that 103 of the 302 weather stations that provide data for both the UK government and academic scientists’ climate forecasts don’t exist or produce actual data. That’s right. Instead of data, the government manufactures ‘estimates.’ This includes the British government’s frequent dire predictions of massive global heating that will soon make life on planet earth unbearable. ⁽¹³⁾

Alarmingly, this fabricated data has found its way into climate models used by leading institutions worldwide, influencing global organizations in shaping climate policies and driving alarmist narratives.

Anyone looking to combat the activists pushing a net zero agenda in the US would be wise to read Rupert Darwall’s report entitled “The Folly of Climate Leadership.” ⁽¹⁴⁾

At less than one percent of the problem globally, there is very little the UK can do that will make the slightest bit of difference. A little less idealism, and rather more economic sense would be very welcome concludes Jeremy Warner. ⁽⁸⁾

References

1. Chris Morrison, “UK energy grid crisis looms due to price hikes and green energy fails,”, principia-scientific.org, October 8, 2024
2. Will Jones, “UK energy dilemma as wind and solar power plummets,” principia-scientific.org, November 15, 2024
3. Matt Oliver, “British industry paying highest electricity prices in the world,” principia-scientific.org, October 8, 2024
4. Sallust, “How the rush to net zero is accelerating Britain’s industrial decline,”, wattsupwiththat.com, December 2, 2024
5. John Timmer, “The UK has no coal fired power plants for the first time in 142 years,” wired.com, October 1, 2024
6. “Britain must regress 100 years to achieve net zero,” principia-scientific.org, November 18, 2024
7. Jo Nova, “Suddenly a lot of people in London are realizing what Net Zero really means,” joannenova.com.au, September 1, 2023
8. Jeremy Warner, “Britain might be leading the world on Net Zero, but no one is following,” telegraph.co.uk, August 9, 2024
9. Liz Hull, “Proof wind farms should be scrapped? Energy chief admits England is not windy enough for more turbines as ex-minister labels them as a failed medieval technology,” dailymail.co.uk, June 2016
10. Alistair Carmichael, “One billion pounds paid to windfarm company to stop generating electricity in scandalous waste of money,” scotsman.com, August 29, 2024
11. Paul Homewood, “Another windfarm surpasses 1 billion pounds in subsidy payments,” netzerowatch.com, November 24, 2024
12. Jack Elsom, “Gas boilers set to be banned from all new homes within three years under government plans,” thesun.co.uk, November 11, 2024
13. “Britain must regress 100 years to achieve net zero,” principia-scientific.org, November 18, 202
14. Rupert Darwall, “The Folly of Climate Leadership,” Real Clear Foundation, December 2023