John Redwood (Wokingham, Conservative):
I rise to urge the Government to be careful about rushing to close our factories making diesel and petrol cars before we have established the electrical revolution and are confident that we have created the capacity and the extra jobs in the alternative power system that the hon. Member for Croydon Central (Sarah Jones) is so passionately recommending. I would ask the Labour Opposition, who seem even keener to close our petrol and diesel capacity more quickly, to consider why Germany, with a far larger automotive industry than our own, has decided with the EU to delay the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles to 2035 rather than 2030, and also why Germany thinks it needs to make provision for the possibility that it can make cars that work on synthetic fuels or some derivative of hydrogen as an alternative to the battery system as a way of getting to a low carbon output. Germany might not be wrong. I think that we will discover as a country that it is much easier to close factories and terminate the production of petrol and diesel cars than it is to get those much-wanted electrical factories into operation, with all the supply chain that that requires.
Is the right hon. Gentleman not making an important admission that although the EU has delayed ending the manufacture of combustion engines, there are important exemptions in that those cars should be run only on synthetic fuels and sustainable fuels?
I have said that the EU was keen to explore the synthetic fuel opportunity. In the meantime, it is not recommending the closure of traditional vehicle factories at pace. Indeed, the EU has recently required of its member states that they should not only speed up the roll-out of electrical charging pointsâwhich will clearly be needed if people are to buy more electric carsâbut roll out the provision of hydrogen refuelling places, not synthetic fuels. It is probably easier to deal with synthetic fuels, because a good synthetic fuel that is liquid at normal temperatures can be used in the usual distribution system, using the sunk assets that already exist in the petrol and diesel system. Indeed, one of the ways to introduce synthetic fuels more easily would be to gradually increase the proportion of synthetic fuel mixed into traditional fuels, as we have with E10 petrol and as is being talked about for sustainable aviation fuels, where there are target percentages for the introduction of lower carbon ingredients in the fuels.
I am very much a supporter of synthetic fuels. I think they will have a role to play in the years moving
forward. Can the right hon. Gentleman tell us what emissions synthetic fuels will emit from a combustion engine compared with the current fossil fuel equivalent?
That is to ask, âHow long is a piece of string?â A variety of these fuels are being produced in trials in small quantities. They need to have all their characteristics explored, then people will decide which ones give the best green output for the lowest cost for scale-up.
The whole House needs to get better at carbon accounting. I hear from all sides that unless we go for battery cars, we will not meet our net zero targets. I am suggesting that there may be other ways of getting closer to net zero targets through other types of fuels. I also do not quite understand why so many people in the House think that getting people to buy electric battery cars today helps us with our net zero targets. Let us take the example of a well-off person who decides to replace their petrol or diesel car with an electric battery vehicle. They have enough money to be able to afford oneâthey are quite expensiveâand they are also fortunate in that they have a driveway or personal garage and can pay to have a charger put in at home. They realise that they will always be able to get there and back for short and medium distances without having to rely on unpredictable and rather scarce public charging systems, so they are ready to go. When they get home and recharge their car on the first night, however, there is no extra renewable electricity to send to them. We use every bit of renewable electricity every day, whether or not the wind is blowing, because it is given priority so, when the car is plugged in overnight, a gas power station will probably have to up its output a little to supply the electricity. Far from helping us to meet our net zero target, that new electric car is probably increasing the amount of electricity that has to be generated from fossil fuels.
I have read a number of studies that attempt to get to the truth of how much of a contribution, or detriment, getting more people to switch to electric cars might make to reducing world CO2, and there are rather different answers because the calculations are very complicated. I am more persuaded by the people who do total-life-of-vehicle calculations. We need to recognise that more CO2Â is generated in producing a typical electric car, including the battery, than in producing a petrol or diesel car. Mining all the metals and minerals needed for the battery and battery production is particularly intensive, and more CO2Â could be produced to deal with the waste when the battery reaches the end of its useful life and needs to be replaced, which is an expensive and complicated task.
To beat running a petrol or diesel car for a bit longer, a person running an electric car would need to do a very high mileage and would need to make sure that every unit of electricity used to charge the vehicle is generated from zero-carbon sources. At the moment, it is very clear that none of these requirements has been met. Although I can understand why we need to encourage people to go on this journey to build up the fleet of electric cars, against the day when we generate more zero-carbon electricity, we must accept that, in the short term, it is probably bad news for the worldâs CO2.
I am worried that we may be in danger of not achieving our main green objective, at the same time that we are spending a lot of money on a subsidy war
with other countries that are similarly desperate to get battery production. I am also very worried that the UK, Europe and, to a lesser extent, the United States of America are so behind China in putting in battery manufacturing capability, and so behind China in doing deals with world suppliers of critical minerals and battery components, that it places us in a very vulnerable industrial position, which is why both the European Union and the United Kingdom are having difficulties ensuring enough value added in electric cars to meet our own criteria. That is a common and shared problem, and the solution is not easy because we need to leapfrog 10 years, or whatever, to get to the point at which we have control over the minerals, the raw materials and the production of batteries so we can meet those criteria.
I am also very worried about how customers are left out of most of these debates. They are taken for granted and, when they do not behave in quite the way that politicians would like, politicians invent taxes, subsidies and bans to say, âWell, we are going to make you choose a car you would not have chosen for yourself, because we do not think you are making the right choices.â I would rather live in a world in which the hugely talented motor industry, and all the skilled scientists and technologists who help it, work away at producing cars that are better, more affordable, safer, higher quality and meet our service requirements so that we willingly buy the electric or synthetic fuel alternative, rather than sticking to petrol or diesel vehicles. We are not there yet, as we can see. The proportion of people wanting to buy electric cars is still a minority, despite all the very aggressive advertising, promotion and political weight behind them. Part of that is affordability, part of it is range, part of it is the worry about refuelling and part of it is uncertainty about battery life and repair. There are many complicated decisions when trying to make such a big switch in product availability, and people have come to like their traditional petrol or diesel vehicle. They have the measure of those vehicles and think they provide a very good service. As a country, we should not get too far ahead of our electorates and consumers.
If we look at the fast growth of electric car sales, from a very low base, we will find that it is much more concentrated in the business fleet market than in the personal choice market, because companies feel under more of a moral imperative to buy into this idea, which I have just exposed as somewhat odd, that these are super-green vehicles, whereas individuals say, âBut it is not affordable, it is not practical and it is not what I want.â
Does the right hon. Gentleman accept that the reason why fleet purchases are now massively outstripping personal purchases is the tax incentives given to fleet purchases, whereas the incentives for private purchases have all but disappeared under this Government?
The hon. Gentleman makes a very good point, and it is an additional reinforcement, but I think fleet buyers are also very conscious of the environmental requirements.
I stress that, for this to work, it has to be a popular revolution. Millions of people have to decide for themselves, having listened to the arguments and seen the products, that green products are better than the old products, and in some cases they very clearly are and people will rush out to buy them. If we are still in a world in which people are not of that view, we can subsidise, tax and lecture all we like, but people will not change their mind.
One of the ways in which businesses and people could get around any attempt by this Government or a future Government to ban all sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles in 2030, when the rest of the world is not doing so, is that people will set up businesses to import nearly new petrol and diesel cars from places that still sell them and make them, to sell them as second-hand cars on the UK market. I do not believe anyone is suggesting that we ban the sale of second-hand diesel and petrol cars, as that would immediately remove all the value from our cars, meaning that we are prisonersâwe either run the car until it falls to pieces or we lose its value and are unable to make the changes we would normally make.
There will have to be a definition of what is a new car, and it will presumably have something to do with how long ago it was made and/or how many miles it has on the clock. Whatever the definition, there will then be a good opportunity for people to sell cars that are four months old, rather than three months old, or that have 3,000 miles on the clock instead of 500 delivery miles. There would be a nearly new market, but the cars would all be imports, because people here would try to obey the law.
I urge all politicians to remember that they cannot just lecture, ban, tax or subsidise people into doing things unless the product has an underlying merit that people can see. Can we please work with the industry to prove that underlying merit? And do not ban things in the meantime, because Britain will lose jobs and factories. We cannot save the electric vehicle until the electric vehicle saves itself.
September 20, 2023
I think that after decades of EU membership Westminster and Whitehall no longer believes they must persuade by argument. Like the EU they have only to legislate to make it so, whether people like it or not. The EU mentality and culture is still very much alive in UK politics and government.
September 20, 2023
++++
September 20, 2023
Peter
Absolutely! I’ve often thought that about the EU mentality continuing.
In the EU, they try out something in a country or two where it’s known it will very likely be received well, then roll it out across the Union! No consultation!
Any consultation is ignored if it dissents from the preferred outcome (ULEZ)
September 20, 2023
Yes. There are few logical thinkers, most have no clue what the job of an MP entails, done properly.
September 20, 2023
Gina Miller has a good point today:
https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/we-cant-afford-caution-its-time-to-get-rejoin-done/
“It appears reality is finally dawning on Rishi Sunak. But the Windsor Framework, which makes Northern Ireland â in his words â âthe worldâs most exciting economic zoneâ, is being denied to the rest of the UK.”
One must ask why he chose that line of argument to try to persuade Northern Ireland unionists to accept slow motion detachment from Great Britain. Does he actually believe it, or was it just more flannel?
In fact there has been an attempt to work out how much the rest of the UK could gain, and it is not much:
https://ukandeu.ac.uk/expand-services-and-defend-goods-the-uks-opportunity-to-set-its-own-trade-strategy/
“Delivering a âUK Protocolâ, building on the agreement for Northern Ireland, would deliver the benefits of both the EU customs territory and single market for goods, and could boost GDP by as much as 1 to 2%.”
September 20, 2023
That’s 100x what the Australia trade deal (0.01% to 0.02%) is projected to bring to the UK economy.
September 20, 2023
Correct, but still of marginal significance.
http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2023/05/17/letter-to-the-prime-minister-from-the-european-scrutiny-committee-chair-bill-cash/#comment-1388335
“Off topic, reflecting on Rishi Sunakâs reversion to post-Suez Tory type in vastly overstating the importance of having a special trade deal with our European neighbours â Northern Ireland uniquely retaining that massive economic benefit of unfettered access to the EU Single Market which previously the whole UK enjoyed, as he now argues â I thought to do the calculation of how much that might have added to our economic growth over the past 30 years, since the advent of the EU Single Market, and concluded that at least 97% of our economic growth had been unconnected with its creation. Then I remembered that I had done this calculation before, and looking in my files I found this from nearly seven years ago, just before the referendum … ”
As I said the other day:
“It’s OK, I’ll just carry on for another five years, or until I drop, by when some people including in the media may have understood that nowadays special trade deals are rarely worth much more than trading on WTO terms.”
September 20, 2023
Good morning.
We are slowly being forced out of our cars and have every little bit of freedom and self determination removed. That is the plan. It has nothing to do with saving anything.
China knew it could not compete with the West on ICE’s vehicles, so it bought up all the stuff that you would use to make an electric vehicle, spent billions developing BEV technology and then through various UN departments, useful idiots and the media helped whip up a false narrative that world was going to end unless we got rid of the ICE (which the West held a lead on) and switch over to BEV’s which China has the lead and control over all the resources to make BEV’s.
Now the Germans have realised that for their motor manufacturers cannot compete on price, performance and technology as China holds all the cards. And as Germany effectively pays the EU’s bills it, the EU, has also realised that it is now under threat.
The problem here is the Left-wing media, such as the BBC, and those idiots who have bought into the BEV lie. They zealotry will not allow debate over this, exposing the above and freeing us from what we all can see is self imposed terminal decline.
China has it in for us and we need a President Trump to call them out !
September 20, 2023
Very well said MB. A dose of reality that should be in every MP’s email inbox as a MUST READ.
Germany is, according to independent analysis, providing just shy of 50% of the EU’s net budget, at about Euro 25 billion; what Germany wants the EU will deliver. How long before the demands become …difficult?
September 20, 2023
So today Fishy is going to make a speech rowing back on net zero commitments. Has some sanity suddenly appeared in Westminster. No, it’s a ploy for votes which will be rapidly forgotten immediately after the election.
Remember net zero is a Tory baby and it’s 100% reliant on China providing it.
September 20, 2023
Energy bill went through last week! Windsor sell out now introduced unilaterally without Stormont- not mentioned in the news! No Sunak is still acting against Our National interest. Delaying his nutty car plan is only following EU not leading our own country!
September 20, 2023
Too little Too late
September 20, 2023
+1. German taxpayers are now funding subsidies to their industries to compensate for their high energy costs, to induce them to remain in Germany and not move production to places where energy is cheaper (including China).
September 20, 2023
Indeed so Sunak is slowing down slightly on the net zero B/S but we are still driving over the cliff just slightly later.
A good interview on Talk radio with someone sensible on the insanity of net zero from Webster? University on JH-B show at 8.43.
In the battle between physics and political clap trap, moronic platitudes the laws of physics will always win – in the end.
September 20, 2023
I read today that even modest savings will now be taxed with the higher interest rates that don’t even begin to dent the damage done by inflation.
Fake Conservatives !
September 20, 2023
A “century of humiliation” beckons for the west.
September 20, 2023
The Franco-German feud over who will supply European industry – The Berlin-Paris energy battle is heating up with both supporters of France’s decaying nuclear power plants and Germany’s short-lived wind turbines ultimately losing out.
France wants to revise EU electricity market rules to extend the life of its outdated and debt-ridden fleet of nuclear reactors – a move that could ensure lower electricity prices.
But Germany, which is struggling to make its own green transition, opposes it.
The EU cannot afford a protracted struggle within its industrial core, especially given the challenges it faces competing with the US and China on clean technology.
If itâs China that produces the best âclean technologyâ first – what will Europe and more specifically the U.K. do? Buy it? Already the EU is banning âcheap Chinese EVâsâ because they will âdistort our marketâ đđ€Ł; cheap bad Ukrainian grain will not of course.
September 20, 2023
Sensible points as usual.
Running the cars on âsynthetic fuels and sustainable fuelsâ until either we run out of conventional or synthetic fuels make no real difference or sense. This as CO2 is not a real problem anyway and making synthetic fuels will use loads of energy to make it and will, indirectly, cause similar or even more co2. This as we see with ethanol production.
Perhaps this is rather beyond the comprehension of the LibDim Wera Hobhouse – she studied history/fine art it seems. It also makes zero sense to burn young wood at Drax as opposed to old wood (coal) indeed in CO2 terms per unit of energy it is far worse). But government do like to pretend they are saving the World do they not?
September 20, 2023
More rude condescension about an MP making your comments overall valueless
September 20, 2023
I merely point out, correctly, that she does not know what she is talking about or about physics, energy, CO2… I do not know much about Beowulf or Shakespeare but I would at least mug up a bit if I were to speak in Parliament on them.
September 20, 2023
You say ” the whole House needs to get better at carbon accounting.” this seems very ulikely most have no science beyond GCSE and lack ogic and numeracy.
Most even think energy can be renewable and that EV cars save CO2.Even that HS2 and burning wood at Draz makes sense.
September 20, 2023
JR tells Talk Radio that Sunak “is going in the right direction”, with his net zero delays. Not so he still going in exactly the wrong direction just slightly more slowly.
Still destroying what is left of out steel industry for no reason what so ever too.
September 21, 2023
+1
September 20, 2023
Well worth looking at the latest tweet (x) from Andrew Bridgen MP today on what Pfizer and the government knew and when they knew it (ref. the very sig. vaccine harms caused). He is planning an urgent question in parliament,
September 20, 2023
LL
Good. From all the information I have seen and from what I have personally witnessed, crimes of the most serious kind have been committed internationally and will have to be accounted for.
September 20, 2023
Accounted for?! You canât be serious. Four legs good, two legs better. You only have to mention âvaccine harmâ to get a good kicking.
September 20, 2023
+1
September 20, 2023
Good for him. An Honourable Member indeed.
September 20, 2023
LL makes the same old point again , however like everything else, theory is simply that and until these combination fuels are in use no one will really know.. There are many reasons for wanting to remove reliance from bought in fuels and take us back to the days of smog and ill health by the use of coal , however widespread information in all countries points at the balance of O2 and Co2 changing rapidly and becoming one of the causes of global warming. BBC 4 again showed a programme re the bleaching of corals in the Great Barrier reef and the rise in cyclones destroying life under water. I agree though with LL on some things and acknowledge his scientific superiority , but sometimes there are IFs and Buts that he misses out on.
I point out individual problems in medicine/ nursing to highlight the unknown to managers and those who do not actually do the jobs where they incorrectly put together their theories built on false information and not on the practicalities before them , I imagine this is similar in all disciplines.
September 20, 2023
Well you cannot really cover all if and buts but CO2 is not a serious problem & there is no climate emergencu as most sensible and honest physicists point out. On balance a bit more is a net benefit.
Even Duncan-Smith talkes about clean energy nothing dirty about CO2 plant food IDS. Carbon on the other hand is rather black!
September 20, 2023
Iâd be curious to know how much extra CO2 is needed to allow for the fact that the global population has tripled in 75 years and a lot more food is needed. I have never seen this mentioned.
Someone on here mentioned a presentation by some bk like the other day. Sorry, needless to say, have forgotten how to find it. This bloke had examined the temperature readings going back for the last 130 years. There is little data for much of the world so he honed in in the USA data. Prior to 1960 there were significantly more days above 90 degrees Fahrenheit than post 1960. Needless to say, various climate change nutters are ignoring the pre 1960 data.
September 20, 2023
margaret : âBBC 4 again showed a programme re the bleaching of corals in the Great Barrier reef and the rise in cyclones destroying life under water.â
The BBC are lying yet again.
The Great Barrier Reef in the best health it has ever been since records began 35 years ago. This is not a surprise as corals like warmer water and the most species of coral exist in the warmest waters in the world, the Coral Triangle, between the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Check out the data for yourself.
There is no increase in the frequency and intensity of cyclones and hurricanes.
Check out the data for yourself from the IPCCâs WG1 (Working Group 1 â âThe Scienceâ). Check out Table 12.12 listing the âClimate Impact Drivers (CIDs)â in Chapter 12 on page 1873, of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report, the most recent report. You will see the IPCC have found no evidence for any noticeable change.
Stop watching the BBC and do your own research.
September 20, 2023
I make the same old points because that is the basic reality.
Would you prefer me to make points that are wrong so as to introduce some variety?
September 20, 2023
It may surprise you to know that the Great Barrier Reef corals are actually in good health and have recovered well from the earlier bleaching. You cannot expect the BBC to be up to date with the reality when the alternative is preaching false alarm.
September 20, 2023
There is ‘no underlying merit’ to electric cars which is why consumers refuse to buy them and why the State will impose them and ban ICE cars
Voting Tory, Labour and SNP is DESTROYING OUR FREEDOM AND OUR LIVES
John should speak out against rising authoritarianism now being practised by his own party, Labour and the SNP. Does Mr Redwood want to live in a barbarian world ruled by the politics of environmental Marxism, a new form of racial politics and gender power politics?
We only ask the State LEAVES US ALONE
September 20, 2023
It is reported that the PM is about to announce a U-turn on the early date of petrol cars being stopped, as if that is sensible leadership. Sensible leadership would have been not to make the wrong decision in the first place, not to keep being loyal to it while others repeatedly pointed out the errors, and not to cause reports about the announcement of the date change solely to test the likely reaction before making that announcement. If that bozo is a leader, why do only wrongly-destined people follow him?
September 20, 2023
Agreed.
I think a lot of people would be happy to see net world pollution pushed downwards, across all pollutants not just a few. The real problem with “green” measures implemented here is that they just shift pollution to India, China, and others and while superficially making pollution look lower here they actually push up net world pollution. This forces work abroad and harms our own workforce. The innovations our own workers would come up with, aided by a competitive environment, are being stopped as the state seeks to make all decisions top down.
September 20, 2023
Far more expensive, save no CO2, short lived batteries, need to have a charge point and parking at home, slow to recharge, very limited range, not enough lithium etc. about, child labour, tyres and roads wear more as far heavier⊠just âmoreâ emissions elsewhere cars. Plus we have no spare low carbon electricity anyway.
September 20, 2023
Good advice, as usual, but let’s see what the government actually does. I too would rather live in a world where what sort of cars are on sale is closely related to what people actually want to buy. However, we live a world where a government has for years felt entitled to ‘nudge’ people into doing what it wants, not what they want. You surely don’t think that what ordinary people prefer is going to make any difference to the government’s devotion to the climate cult?
September 20, 2023
I will never own an electric car.
My contribution to conserving the planet’s resources is to buy cars when they have done 100,000 miles and run them till they die or are pranged.
An electric car is at end-of-life at 1000,000 miles because of the battery.
September 20, 2023
A sensible policy even in CO2 terms and certainly in financial terms.
September 20, 2023
Sir John it is very good that you raise the use of alternative fuels for cars, and other transport, in Parliment.
The UK could have been a world leader1 in this field if the Govenment ,starting with Gorden Brown, had not ceased funding research.
Also not much publicity is given to trials using hydrogen gas in domestic gas boilers.
It is typical that once politicians sign up to the group think on any subject, alternative science and engineering views are ignored or in certained cases censored. It would be interesting to know how many MP’s have a degree or equivalent in any science or engineeing subject.
Again the big question “where do we get the electricity from to fuel the electric car”
The electric car preceded the liquid fuel car over 100 years ago but it did not catch on. An interesting thought to reflect on.
September 20, 2023
+++
That is assuming that all these techs are not figments of the Left eco wingâs vivid imaginations!
We surely SHOULD have an efficient solar/wind kitchen by now?( Although I suspect the plan is to leave us with NOTHING at all. NothingâŠ.)
We have (apparently) got about 47 years of oil left, a hundred or so of coal and 86 years of natural gas.
Though how they can be so certain what with their disastrous modelling so far I do not know.
SO plenty of time to humanely and sensibly get about inventing and developing everything we might need.
But noâŠworldwide governmental damaging, headless chicken, mad sabre rattlingâŠ.as if they had any idea about anything at all.
Oh âŠand a plumber told me that the powers are definitely dropping Heat Pumps in favour of hydrogen ( in gas boilers). But that was a week agoâŠ..
September 20, 2023
We were told in the 1980s that oil would run out by 2000. Then we discovered more oil reserves. And more.
And now, companies are prohibityed from exploring to find yet more (in areas that they know oil will exist) by blinkered legislation and by punitive tax regimes.
There’s an awful lot of rubbish written about energy (and almost everything) these days – having the knowledge and experience to navigate to the truth is not easy…
There’s a lot of “Woozle hunting” going on. That’s a reference to Winnie the Pooh, where Pooh and another (Eeyore?) follow tracks in the snow and the tracks get more pronounced, wider as they go further. They decide they are on the trail of a Woozle. Christopher Robin comes along and points out that they have been walking around the same circle – the tracks are their own, there is no Woozle.
This is what happens on the internet these days. Someone makes a wild claim. Someone else refers to it. Another person refers to both… and so on. There is no evidence, there is no real consensus – they are simply quoting themselves and in doing so they create an apparent body of evidence and consensus. Sometimes deliberately. It’s an illusion – but either way, it’s a Woozle hunt.
September 20, 2023
Before I finish reading this rather long text… synthetic fuel…. ? How is this going affect the environment? Is it actually better than petrol or diesel?
I heard the tail end of your conversation with Julia H B…when people are banned or restricted, they will find a way round it… I agree with your thoughts that ‘second-hand’ cars will appear from abroad.
September 20, 2023
Labour Leaderâs Lament ( and of all others who loudly proscribe and prescribe)
Help! Help!
Weâve reached peak oil.
Scrap petrol cars or we will boil.
No more gas and no more heating.
No more meat and no more eating.
At least for THEE.
AhâŠNot for MEâŠ
I wonât stop flyingâŠ
Errr,âŠeven though the planetâs dying.
September 20, 2023
It seems nearly all MP’s are dulusional. The briefest look at greenest of green South Australia would inform them that NZ and the drive to de carbonise does not work.
So much parliamentary time and tax payers money completely wasted on the fraudulent concept of ACC and the war on CO2 with legislation to wreck the economy. But perhaps that is the intention.
September 20, 2023
A long read, but worth it.
September 20, 2023
The battery car market will bump into the reality of economics once the vehicles are being released into the used car market.
There the only measure used to determine sales is value for money. The buyers seeking an affordable reliable vehicle will have a choice. Do they spend twice what they can afford buying an electric battery car then try to find a place to house the charging point back at their flat, or do they buy a car they can afford confident they can fuel the vehicle at the local garage when they need to.
Add into that scene the uncertainty of battery life and unseen deterioration or even damage to the battery. The second hand car market is a brutal place. That will be the altar on which the real market rather than the contrived virtue signalling market exists. So far things are not looking too promising for the used battery car market.
September 20, 2023
John, I applaud any attempt at delaying or reversing the unobtainable, unaffordable and unnecessary NET ZERO ambition. Indeed the grid, generation and storage capacity will not be there for everyone to have an EV, everyone to have reliable heat-pump based heating and the alternative of making renewable energy or turning that into hydrogen (about 70% delivered liquid energy for electrical energy injected) and then synthetically combining that hydrogen with carbon is even worse at about 55% return on energy as you cycle. One litre of diesel fuel (auto) is approximately 38 MJ, which is roughly 10 kWh (using a ballpark figure). So approx 66kWh of electricity is needed to make a litre of diesel fuel which at UK price of 52p/kWh electricity means at a conversion efficiency of 55% a litre would cost (10kWh / 0.55% ) * 0.55 GBP/kWh = ÂŁ10/litre, so I am not sure how viable that is. Even if you could get the efficiency of synthetic fuel creation up to 70% you are still going to be costing around ÂŁ7/litre or x14 todays pump prices. You could say that you are going to only use electricity that would have been ‘wasted’ from wind-turbines currently paid to turn off due to lack of network capacity. However you are not going to make the quantity of fuel required to power all the trucks, planes, cars etc in the land by doing this.
September 20, 2023
Excellent speech especially about import of second hand cards after a ban. But how many members of the House of Chumps were there to hear it? That you found it necessary to tell them how to do their sums was very telling.
September 20, 2023
Excellent points
September 20, 2023
And then they changed tack.
This government of idiots wouldn’t know a consistent policy if it hit them four square. Arbitery ideas by know nothings.
September 20, 2023
Excuse my previous errors I checked the efficiency of hydrogen and synthetic fuels and my first round of calculations included the roughly 30% efficiency when the fuel is burned in a combustion engine rather than the actual energy in the fuel itself. When I corrected before submitting I didn’t re-work all of the numbers in my text. So here goes. Here is a resubmission assuming 55% efficiency from a 1kW of electricity generated to the energy content in a litre of synthetic diesel.
John, I applaud any attempt at delaying or reversing the unobtainable, unaffordable and unnecessary NET ZERO ambition. Indeed the grid, generation and storage capacity will not be there for everyone to have an EV, everyone to have reliable heat-pump based heating and the alternative of making renewable energy or turning that into hydrogen (about 70% delivered liquid energy for electrical energy injected) and then synthetically combining that hydrogen with carbon is even worse at about 55% return on energy as you cycle. One litre of diesel fuel (auto) is approximately 38 MJ, which is roughly 10 kWh (using a ballpark figure). So approx. 18kWh of electricity is needed to make a litre of diesel fuel which at UK price of 52p/kWh electricity means at a conversion efficiency of 55% a litre would cost (10kWh / 0.55% ) * 0.55 GBP/kWh = ÂŁ10/litre, so I am not sure how viable that is. Even if you could get the efficiency of synthetic fuel creation up to 70% you are still going to be costing around ÂŁ7/litre or x5 todays pump prices (of around ÂŁ1.50). You could say that you are going to only use electricity that would have been âwastedâ from wind-turbines currently paid to turn off due to lack of network capacity. However you are not going to make the quantity of fuel required to power all the trucks, planes, cars etc in the land by doing this.
I implore all logical people to challenge the faulty climate science based on flawed models and distorted and faulty data; to challenge the costs and feasibility of not using fossil fuels here in the UK and the realisation that making and maintaining the infrastructure using mining and refining abroad actually increases and not decreases your carbon footprint anyway. Even if we did succeed and go it alone our 1% of global CO2 emissions makes not difference, whether you believe that global atmospheric CO2 concentrations are going up because of man’s emissions rather than Henry’s law and warming climate causing it to come out of the oceans or not, and whether you believe the faulty CO2 warming potential used in climate models or not.
Let’s get back to a growth and wealth creation model rather than a de-growth and suffering model of governance.
September 20, 2023
A truly refreshing blast of good sense! And as ever underpinned by thorough research. Thank you.
Additional to “Part of that is affordability, part of it is range, part of it is the worry about refuelling and part of it is uncertainty about battery life and repair” is the cost of insurance, even its availability with some insurers refusing renewals. It seems low mileage/high value EVâs are often being written off with very minimal damage if there is any suggestion the battery pack is damaged.
September 20, 2023
I’ll applaud the outbreak of common-sense in No 10, being reported late last night. It seems that Sunak has been reading this blog and Guido Fawkes. What we now need, beyond that which has been announced as being ‘to be announced’, is for a thorough review of every last ‘climate change’ measure being promoted by this zealotment. Those that offer poor value-for-money should be binned. Smart-meters? Ditched. CCS? Ditched. Hydrogen? Probably ditched.
P.S. My energy bill is now down to ÂŁ86/month – comared to ÂŁ56 before the world went crazy. Bless those rubber gaskets!
September 20, 2023
Do I hear some voices of reason breaking through? Amazing! Impressive. I feel slightly reassured about the sanity of our leaders…
September 20, 2023
++
I know what you meanâŠ
But could it be a bit of blue smoke to divert us from the just-gone-through-the Lords gagging act?
September 20, 2023
I am wondering whether the notion of âPeak Oilâ had more of an impact on the political psyche than it seemed to when it was a buzz phrase.
Maybe the Wealthy Few are panicking and trying to conserve resources for themselves alone?
Climate alarm is fake but they use it to take all our stuff ( won by us in the Industrial Revolution) and replace it with nought. Cos NOTHING efficient has actually been inventedâŠand wonât be!
September 20, 2023
There is something wrong with those in this Conservative Government that at the drop of a hat they reach for the taxpayer to bail out and aid their evangelist religious direction. This Conservative Government was elected to create a framework of releasing the people of the UK from the tyranny of Socialism, instead it embrace it with both hands.
EVâs, BEVâs will become popular and be taken up when the manufacturers start to get the theories and the technology to work in a way we need to use it.
This Conservative Governments obsession with closing UK manufacturing down, then forcing the general population to buy products produced by the Worlds largest polluters, know no bounds. Then to rub salt in to the overburden Taxpayers wounds this Conservative Government just hands out and subsidises the Worlds polluters with our hard earned money.
September 20, 2023
Yet other Tories speak against what you say, the Guardian has seen evidence that voices on the right of the Tory Party want to generate ‘a culture war’ about this.
You should speak with Ben Goldsmith, Alok Sharma, Chris Skidmore the x-net zero tsar!
All this uncertainty is making people cautious, it is a big investment after your home, a car, for the majority of people, the majority don’t get a company car funded for three years and have that concern removed.
off topic: Is Steve Barclay actually going to come out today and say why the doctor’s and consultants’ demands can’t be met when the NHS management behind his back this weekend announced a load of wasteful spending. These figures they use to demand 35% can they be corrected, on average pay figures, properly averaged inflation etc. instead of picking key dates to inflate the position. It is the public this is killing, we need to hear his side of this negotiation with proper figures, hours worked for the NHS, why spending is still going ahead in areas these degree-level workers shouldn’t need help i.e being nice to each other and a proper functioning HR dept that already exists!
Can’t you pull in business advisors like Margaret Mountford, Karen Brady, Claude Littner, Nick Hewer send them into the worst-performing trusts to observe without them having preparation time. The public needs independent observers from outside the NHS to stand up for us and tell us what is going on.
Reply I have spoken with Chris and Alok. We profoundly disagree. I am trying to teach them to carbon count.
September 20, 2023
There is a lack of joined up thinking with the Conservative Government. EVâs only exist due to taxpayer subsidy, the EV infrastructure only exists due to taxpayer subsidy. Yet ICEâs reached the market place through need and the financing by the user.
This Conservative Government exists through controlling and banning and not working with the people of this Country. They are 100% working to the WEF Socialist, World order agenda not the people of the UK that pay them and empowered them. It is noted that the World polluters are avoiding destroying their economies, their people and their wealth, while all the time even if this Conservative Government succeed on every count of their new religion it would not make a single percentage point difference to the Worlds pollution. From that alone you have to suspect they have an altererial motive.
September 20, 2023
Excellent speech.
That should be obvious even to libdem MPs.
I fear though that the big decisions and target dates have already been made to wipe out the petrol and diesel car industry. The establishment is not blind to the faults and high Co2 costs of electric cars. They always knew of these issues, but as with most dictatorships, ideology comes before common sense.
No matter the logic of great speeches, it is clear that HMG intends to remove petrol and diesel cars from the streets, meaning that far less people will be mobile, then they can so easily bring in 15 minute cities and other oppressive measures.
September 20, 2023
You outline the problems that go through peoples minds in purchasing a car for the next five years. I returned from Spain having sold a delightful Qashqai the week I left. My partner has a car so that filled the gap. I won’t buy be buying anything until we have finished some extensive building work next spring.
The requirement in future is comfort for distant motoring on the Continent. This points to a large under stressed engine. It must also look good, too many vehicles come out of the same unimaginative computer these days. It will be second hand and not electric on range and refueling reliability grounds. I have seriously considered a hybrid on the grounds of its absolute beauty, but it is so low that entry and exit could be a problem for my partner. It demands a course in model style deportment to effect an elegant exit. The other four possibilities have their pluses and minuses. Only one is Japanese. Since 1992 I have only owned such on the grounds of there almost absolute reliability. No doubt my mind will drift about until decision time next spring.
For future generations I would like to see the UK government promoting Hydrogen as the fuel of the future. This involves researching its cheap mass production as well as the propulsion units to use it. It does not have the downsides of EVs. No slave child labour required to mine rare earth metals. No cables. Refueling times the same as for fossil fuels. Ranges as now. Toyota, Mitsubishi, and Porsche are all researching engines. I wili see out my days disgracefully with plenty of vavavroom.
September 20, 2023
Sensible free thinking people would look at a situation they wish to resolve and ask what is the problem and what are the causes. You donât get that with this Conservative Government they have there orders from elsewhere and they will obey.
A realistic approach in reducing the UKâs reliance on ICEâs would not be banning them. It is said 50% of personal transport users travel an average of 7 miles to work and back each day. Logic is if hybrid, vehicles were all capable of travelling 30 (a real 30) miles on each charge, just encouraging them in the short term would halve personal transport emission at no cost to the Taxpayer.
Even better, by 2030 hybrid range should be the 30 miles mentioned above, then by 2035 that should move to 65 miles. In a slight contradiction these should also be self charging vehicles, simple, the charging facilities required just donât exist, the pressure on the taxpayer is already to great. The UK would need a lot of luck and a lot of money just to get up to speed to supply all the electricity demands being made on it by 2050.
The down side is we have a none- Conservative Government with Socialism people control at its core. As such there is no interest in creating wealth, an economy and the safety and security of the UK moving forward so as the UK can cope with what ever is thrown at it, its everything in reverse.
September 20, 2023
Superb Mr Redwood thank you so much for all your efforts
September 20, 2023
+1
September 20, 2023
One interpretation of todaysâs pull back on Net Zero could be that someone is actually listening?
Or of course it could be a soft soap diversion.
AnywayâŠit is a glimmer soâŠ
Dear JR thank you andâŠgo to it!
September 20, 2023
Sir John
While you suggest synthetic fuels, one element is missed all vehicles already in existence can run on hydrogen.
It just need the same electricity we havenât got for EVâs at the moment to transits.
September 20, 2023
Not sure where you would put the fuel tank. It has to be very robust to withstand the high pressures, and also quite voluminous because hydrogen has a low energy density per unit volume. The Toyota Mirai has very limited boot capacity.
Incidentally, similar considerations apply to LPG fuel, though that is at least liquid under relatively mild pressure: it has only about 75% of the mpg of petrol.
September 20, 2023
Yes these are excellent points and I just donât understand why Government Ministers and their Advisors fail to grasp these issues. Itâs common sense! I would also add that it is impossible to discriminate between the source of electrical energy. All sources of energy are mixed and supplied to meet demand. To say âIâm supplying/receiving 100% renewable energyâ is wrong.
September 20, 2023
I think its about time we had devolved driving licences now.
Since you can be banned in Wales now for driving at 21 mph a few times while driving perfectly safely along roads which would have much higher limits in other parts of the country. Scotland is notorious for having some of the driving test centres where it is easiest to pass the test.
I think England should go its own, and insulate itself and its drivers from these abuses of power.
September 20, 2023
Question: What is the difference between Labour and Conservatives?
Answer: Six Months.
September 20, 2023
Sounds like Sunak has listened to you if the headlines are to be believed, as itâs reported he will follow the EU in pushing out his diesel and petrol ban to 2035. Of course, the fact that customers arenât rushing to buy electric vehicles may be the real factor. What a mess politicians are making of our country with their net zero and faux climate emergency. Also, heâs still dropping in the polls despite Starmerâs latest nonsense of wanting the UK to be an associate member of the EU. Give me strength!
September 20, 2023
Try and find an electrical charging point in the majority of Spain and you will fail miserably. Like many countries, they pay lip service to the EU and just continue on their own path. Also, I recently went to Berlin. I didnât see one charging point.
September 20, 2023
âzero-carbon electricityâ
Thatâs a misnomer. How much CO2 is produced making turbines and solar panels and what do you do with them after their short life? Send them to landfill as they currently canât be recycled.
September 20, 2023
Clearly no such thing as zero carbon electricity nor is there such a thing as ârenewableâ energy. Some just longer lasting than others.
September 20, 2023
I ask the question again â How many politicians have a household solely running electric cars? I bet there arenât any.
September 20, 2023
My ex-next door neighbour does… They have a Tesla and BMW i3. Loads of solar panels on their roof and I believe 3 Tesla Power wall battery systems…
Cost that lot up and you are talking about probably ÂŁ150,000 plus. Not many can or would want to afford that
September 20, 2023
There is no climate emergency/crisis/breakdown and certainly not one caused by anthropogenic emissions of CO2. There is no historical or scientific proof that earthâs temperature follows the level of atmospheric CO2 and in fact the Antarctic Vostok ice core data for the last 500,000 years shows the reverse with CO2 following temperature. Just ask any climate alarmist for their anthropogenic explanation for the last ice age and subsequent warming 11,000 years ago. Or for the anthropogenic reason for the Roman and Medieval warm periods where the temperature was higher than today with barley grown in Greenland and vines up by Hadrianâs Wall.
CO2 is the giver of life and in historical terms we have very low levels and need an increase to green the planet and grow more food.
So itâs not about CO2 at all. Itâs about the Left gaining power through impoverishment and the implementation of controls via the rationing of energy, food, heating, transport, industry and agriculture through electrification.
CAGW, has been described by the 2022 Nobel Physics prize winner, Dr. John Clauser, as âa dangerous corruption of science that threatens the worldâs economy and the well-being of billions of peopleâ
As we have seen in the last century the Left believe that the ends always justifies the means and billions will die as a result of the lack of affordable, reliable and abundant energy.
September 20, 2023
I donât know what the House would do without you. I see plenty of people who can swagger and pose and reel out the cliches – but those who address the issues, much less make a contribution to so many on such a wide spectrum are few and far between.
All I can do is hope that your constituents realize that they have a duty to the rest of us to run to the polls and return you for as long as there is breath in your body.
September 20, 2023
Disagree with all of that.
MPs are held in contempt.
Anyone with half a brain is
more influential away from the sad sacks.
September 20, 2023
I am happy to report good news from Wales. The petition to rescind the hated 20mph speed limit is heading for an amazing 270,000 after mere days!
People power in action.
September 20, 2023
as at 19:00hrs its 312,100
September 20, 2023
The Automotive Industry in the UK is an important and vital contributor to our economy and employment . Climate change is undeniable but our influence and carbon usage is a mere pin prick on the world . In any event science really points the way to Hydrogen rather than electric batteries for car propulsion and the car industry ought not to be tracked into a vital decision at this time .
September 20, 2023
Agreed Sir J. Let us see if spinner Sunak actually delivers anything substantive.
September 20, 2023
Reviewing what the MSM is picking up in and around Cars and NetZero, the consensus is that the Taxpayer should be subsidising their businesses more!
âBritain needs more demand for electric cars, says industry bossâ
They want more sales, more profits and so on and the Taxpayer âmustâ be forced into paying these private enterprises more. They need to keep paying their Shareholders greater and greater dividends.
Its about the Government told them we will give you the money, but first you must give the Taxpayer your Company.
September 20, 2023
Thank goodness we have one MP raising these points. But will enough MPs listen to a bit of plain common sense? The media, especially the BBC, have signed up to the cult of Earth worship, so no wonder people are confused about completely harmless CO2. Net Zero is complete nonsense and will never be achieved.
CO2 is about .04 parts per million in the atmosphere, yet the health and safety executive says it is safe for human beings to work an eight-hour day and a forty-hour week in an atmosphere of 25,000 parts of CO2 per million!
We have nothing to worry about except the fools who don’t think, research, or use their brains when it comes to Global Warming / Climate Change. Unfortunately, that is the majority of our MPs!
On another subject, what does the Chancellor do all day? He certainly does not attempt to control Government spending!!
September 20, 2023
Once again, our host is making total sense and brings out points that the green lobby completely ignores.
I only hope that he goes far enough in his speech this afternoon. The move to push the end of pure IC-engined cars out to 2035 has to be accompanied by an acommodation for synthetic fuels when they become available.
Similarly, the rumoured reduction in the total ban on replacing fossil fueled boilers to 80% is not sufficient to be effective. There is currently no suitable and affordable replacement for oil-fueled boilers in rural homes, yet their replacement are supposed to be banned from 2028 !
September 20, 2023
Peter,
Absolutely true. Nett Zero by dictat, ULEZ by dictat, EVs by dictat. The Labour party wish to cosy up to the EU. The civil service cannot think without EU direction. Most of the Conservative party believe in the EU hence the half cock Brexit.
A very large number of MPs are lawyers who believe that making law solves problems, far from it. You solve problems with informed discussion, leadership and taking the people with you. That realisation has yet to dawn in the minds of our leadership.
September 20, 2023
Population September 2023
World 8,045,311,447
India 1,431,311,396 = 17.76% of total
China 1,425,561,399 = 17.72% of total
UK 67,736,802 = 0.84% of total
Only in the UK is its People being ordered by its Conservative Government to destroy its economy. With the Conservative Government also subsidising the two top Polluting Nations with UK Taxpayer money so they can carry on Polluting the Planet.
No other Countries Government is making such a reckless directive to destroy its people in this manner. If the UK stops all activities today nothing will change as the top 35% of the planets polluters being âgivenâ UK Taxpayer money will continue.
There is one thing joining the World community in a single project, there is another being the only ones involved.
Who are this Conservative Government working for, it is not the UK – they are actively and maliciously working against the very existence of this Country.
September 20, 2023
Great contribution. Particularly enjoyed the point about creating a new market for imported cars.
September 20, 2023
https://www.smmt.co.uk/2023/05/new-car-market-grows-for-ninth-month-running/
Interesting figures 1 in 3 registrations in April were electric.
Buyers of new cars:
46% private
51.5% fleet
2.5% business
Although what the difference is between fleet and business I don’t know.
9-10m cars bought in a year
1.5- 2m of them are new.
200,000 bought by Motability (government) pa. 10% of new cars bought each year. Target is for them to be battery by 2030. Keep to it. Along with the roadside plug-in for them which will help to assist others that don’t get vehicles bought for them if they are on the street rather than individual home units. 650,000 Motability customers.
It’s alright these companies whingeing about putting it back to 2035 so we’re not disadvantaging the country compared to Europe moving the goal posts, it is them that aren’t ready, that don’t have great pricing points, it needs pointing out to them that to achieve 2030 we’d have to open the market up to the Chinese and lower cost companies and Kia is already stealing a march. If they’re ready for 2030 and its a good offer people will buy them, we have enough eco zealots in the UK and people in London where there are points a plenty.
September 20, 2023
This mandatory switch to heat pumps and electric cars is another stab into the back of democracy especially to our freedom of choice.
Why are we always pressing ahead with “net-zero” when others, who are much larger offenders, do very little or nothing at all?
This has to be another vanity project so favoured by the leading politicos in this country all at the expense of the poor people. Always. Time to get rid.
September 20, 2023
Kicking the can down the road for five years
September 20, 2023
Wow! Brilliant!
September 20, 2023
Rishi currently talking but some of his figures require further scrutiny. He claims that heat pump allowance will be ÂŁ7,500 which should cover the extra costs over a replacement gas boiler, Currently replacing a combi gas boiler at a coat of ÂŁ2,700, but a heat pump with hot water tank with immersion heater plus extra pipework and larger radiators will come in nearer ÂŁ20,000.
Overall his changes are welcome but for a supposed mathematician he needs to re-calibrate his slide rule.
September 20, 2023
High prise to the governments spin doctors, the net-zero targets continue (petrol car and gas boiler ban delayed five years only) âŠnothing has changed, carbon tax, environmental tax, net-zero tax âŠall the climate change committee policies continue
September 20, 2023
All that is needed is the assurance the UK will match other major World producers achievements in heading to NetZero
Only the UK took up the Boris Johnson batten and suggested it was a race, only the UK has destroyed it self-sufficiency, security and the need for a healthy economy to respond to events. Never forget the Government, the excitative is a collective, all owning the mutual responsibility for the outcomes of their decisions â this Conservative Government is still the Boris Johnson Government. They agreed to the countries directions, they agreed to the punishment, they are stepping out to destroy the UK.
Why do I say that? Out of the Planets 7 billion people only 0.84% of them are being asked to sacrifice them selves in this race, they will be destroyed by this Conservative Government and the World will not notice and carry on prospering.
September 20, 2023
I put together a map that shows the proportion of local vehicle registrations accounted for by EVs. There are a few locations where large numbers of EVs are registered as part of vehicle fleets in company or government department etc. leasing schemes. Otherwise, it is notable that EVs seem to be a Southern thing, and not at all popular in rural areas in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/h23OH/2/
Sometimes MPs need to connect with the rest of the country.
September 20, 2023
I’m really not surprised Mark – and thank you for the map, very interesting (I thought my area would be much higher in the EV ratings)
PS Mr Sunak (whatever his motives) has taken a step forward in my view – the fact that the usual supsects all hate him for it just proves he’s on the right track! đ
September 20, 2023
Well done – your comments as to how Net Zero matters should be thought about and implemented appear to have been listened to!
September 20, 2023
It’s funny how the contributors to the comments on this blog have more of a clue than the massed ranks of our supposed “leaders”
September 20, 2023
Very good speech.
It seems that you incorporated a lot of the information provided in this blog, by knowledgeable contributors – and that is, as I understand it, one of its main raisons d’etre. So that’s all good, people will be happy that they didn’t waste their time posting here – for some the main purpose is to communicate with someone who may have some influence.
The really good news is that you seem to have brought a few on the opposite benches along with you, I suspect they were hearing some of it for the first time (depsite their claims to be “supporters” of synthetic fuels, I suspect this was a support that was born a few seconds prior to them announcing that in the HoC!).
It was good to see that you had time to develop your arguments – and other members clearly listened. Let’s hope for change, UK investment in research into synthetic fuels would be a step in the right direction.
September 20, 2023
Probably worth pointing out that if you live in the North of Scotland and charge your EV on a windy day the extra electricity will come from wind that doesn’t have to be curtailed because there isn’t enough grid capacity to route the power South. But if you do charge it, the grid will look to you to keep the lights on when the wind dies, so forget the trip to Edinburgh.
September 21, 2023
As a big sports and boxing fan, why hasn’t Lennox Lewis, one of greatest boxers in history, not been awarded awarded a knighthood?
Moreover, might help promote more boxing at a junior / amateur level.
September 20, 2023
Electric Cars remind me of the taxis in The Prisoner (’67 series)
Only local sir
said the
Chinese lady.
September 20, 2023
The whole MP thing is a cringefest now.
Unfortunately mostly a Con thing.
Take a bung and stand up and promote this/that.
It’s so obvious.
The accumulation of dosh for foreign trips etc etc.
and what’s the dosh used for ?
new kitchen, bigger house, yacht, third home, perve pursuits.
Self delusion. So very, very sad.
Reply An MP is rightly banned from advocating a commercial cause where they are paid by a business. The money to pay for foreign trips pays for the travel, it is not cash for home spending. It all has to be declared and those who accept free travel to see relevant things abroad cannot then advocate uncritically the foreign countryâs cause.
September 20, 2023
Sir John deserves credit for your marathon persistence making the EV versus ICE debate a reality check before the UK abandons its sanity. It’s interesting that German industry woke up to this before the UK but not surprising given the enormous investment already sunk in this business.
September 21, 2023
CONTROL of the masses. The WEF NWO globalist agenda being fully implemented by the Globalsit UK Establishment government of the day. Wake up people.
September 21, 2023
“I urge all politicians to remember that they cannot just lecture, ban, tax or subsidise people into doing things….
Unfortunately, “our” politicians and Civil Service have been infected with 45 years of EEC/EU membership and think that actually, they can do that.
They are, however, starting to come up against some fairly serious opposition now; and that’s only going to get worse as people’s lives are wrecked by the Net Zero Extremists.
September 21, 2023
It is not just the culling of factories making petrol and diesel vehicles; how long will these companies carry on manufacturing new parts for vehicles already on the road?
It is alright for people on here to say, we’ll keep our x vehicle for 20 years, well take it from someone who is having to scrap vehicles right now because parts can’t be found and replacement engines are too high a cost there will come a time when your legacy vehicle won’t run, and the UK would become like Chile in lower socio-economic areas. When all these big companies like Ford have new Pumas to sell, how long do you think they’ll support old cars?
September 21, 2023
Sir John
You forgot to mention the looming Lithium shortage which analysts and industry personnel think will hit us in 2025. What happens to the batteries then ? Also you forgot to mention that China controls about 70% of the rare earths needed for batteries. Will they play nice and sell us some ? Err no.
The way forward which Germany, Italy and others have recognised is synthetic fuels. SAF from household waste is imminent and synthetic fuels are there, but need some of the subsidies we through at EV’s and heat pumps to get it to market in the quality and volume needed.
I cannot believe some of the ignorance of politicians from all parties. Shameful.
September 21, 2023
“we through” should read we throw. Apologies my stumpy digits.
September 21, 2023
‘You forgot to mention the looming Lithium shortage which analysts and industry personnel think will hit us in 2025. What happens to the batteries then ?’ – how about SODIUM-ion batteries (not saying that with 100% confidence but a realistic possibility you have to consider).