The main governments and political parties of the world only want to talk about one thing, the planned great green transition to net zero. They of course have to talk as well about getting on top of the virus and restoring economic life damaged by the anti pandemic policies they have all adopted. They usually link the two, by assuring us that they plan to grow back greener. They expect vaccines to take care of the virus problem.
This is a huge essay in world government. They do all grasp that there is no point in a few countries doing this whilst others take advantage of cheaper fossil fuel energy and expand on the back of it. Last year the USA, the world’s largest economy, did not buy into the project. China the world’s largest industrial economy, claimed to support, but carried on expanding her coal and other fossil fuel based output, promising reductions later this decade from a higher level. With the world’s two largest economies not contributing to the cause it was more difficult for other countries to sell the idea to their public, as they could always ask what was the point if the world’s two biggest carbon emitters were not trying to change tack. This year China is talking of bringing forward her conversion to starting to lower carbon dioxide, though that will need pinning down with more precise targets and promises. The USA has converted to being a leading advocate of rapid transition to an electrified renewable world.
There will be no shortage of conferences to push countries to make more specific and expensive commitments. This month brings a US led summit on the topic. The G20 in July will have another. The UN’s big global conference is in November in Glasgow. Countries will doubtless advance the dates by which they will achieve substantial cuts in carbon dioxide output. This in turn will spawn multiple targets to increase wind and solar power, to close coal power stations, to end new diesel and petrol cars, to promote battery vehicles, to change people over from gas central heating and to find solutions to power planes and ships in new ways. It will be a world of expanding battery production, hydrogen development and the electrification of home heating.
When asked how there will be growth as we come out of lockdown they all tell us the same thing. The new jobs will come in renewable energy, battery cars and the rest. They do not go on to say that there will also be big job losses in fossil fuels, traditional transport systems and home heating. A lot of the greening will be an expensive switch, retraining the gas fitter to be an electrician and moving a coal miner to be a wind farm maintenance person. As it seems likely governments will prove better at stopping people buying the outgoing technology than they will be at getting enough people to buy the replacements, there could be a painful transition.
The priority must be to generate a full and strong recovery from the pandemic measures. I am all in favour of investment in cleaner air and water, in energy conservation and fuel efficiency. The green revolution still needs to find the iconic products which people want to buy willingly to speed its pace. In default of those there is a danger governments will slow recovery by their success in putting people off traditional products in a range of sectors targeted by the green plans. Net zero will not restore our economies.There needs to be a wide range of policies to promote enterprise and jobs and these need to encompass recovery in a wide range of traditional activities as well as producing new battery cars and windfarms. .
April 11, 2021
Good Morning,
Where’s the joined-up thinking ? As we’re now all going electric, to be generated by weather or daylight dependent sources, we’re going to need what is termed ‘grid level storage’. Sufficient to get us through the long winter nights using our electric heaters etc. There’s a professor in the USA with a hot metal battery product that’s supposed to be nearly ready, but I’ve heard nothing from the UK. How about it?
Sincere condolences to HRH, the Monarch that knows the responsibility of the position.
April 11, 2021
Storing electricity is very energy wasteful and very expensive why generate it before it is needed? Far better, cheaper and more efficient to do as required whenever possible with gas, or even coal (or old wood – as coal largely is). Why is is better to burn new wood at Drax rather than old wood? Better to build things with the new wood and burn coal (old wood) at Drax or convert them to natural gas. Surely this is obvious to all but PPE graduates, Greta followers & 90% of politicians?
April 11, 2021
You know the answer to that. Extracting, refining, transporting and burning oil in ICE is also wasteful. All conversion of energy is wasteful. But, once you have electricity, motors are relatively efficient.
Storing energy in a piece of coal and burning it to create energy is a filthy and wasteful business. And, of course, it is not sustainable. Better by far to obtain electricity from the sun and the wind, store it and use it when we need it.
April 11, 2021
Not with current battery and wind/solar technology alas, when the technology makes sense without subsidy fine. Nothing dirty about CO2 and the rest can be cleaned. Gas is much cleaner I agree. Burning biofuels is worse.
April 11, 2021
Mike Wilson
“Storing energy in a piece of coal and burning it to create energy is a filthy and wasteful business. ”
Maybe so, but the green scam lobby is making a case based on the global environment, and we on our tiny Island with a population of a mere 60 million and non existent heavy industry are not the culprits of alleged man made climate change.
Take the argument to China, not us.
April 12, 2021
We emit 1% of CO2, USA 15% and China 30%
April 12, 2021
Mike, It does concern me that whilst the current fashion is to worship “the science”, very few actually “do” science.
Please look at your domestic energy bill – what do you see? On mine the cost of electricity per kWhr (16p per kWhr) is more than five times the cost of natural gas (c2.7p per kWhr). That tells us electricity is inefficient. Petrol, another fossil fuel, is just over 4p per kWhr calorific value (ex-tax). Therefore your claim that “extracting, refining, transporting [storing] and burning [fossil fuels] is wasteful” (in comparison to electricity) is false.
The words “not sustainable” are also untrue. We will never run out of natural gas, oil, and coal. Why? Because their prices will rise as supplies dwindle, and at that stage it will become economic to use other sources, rather than by the authoritarian imposition of immature technologies. In the meantime all you are left with is reducing pollution (which we all want, on balance), and CAGW, which is a hoax.
April 11, 2021
+1
April 11, 2021
LL – Totally agree
April 11, 2021
What you advocate maybe cheaper for you but it isn’t cheaper or efficient in the long run, you are simply kicking the problem of resource constraint down the road to my grandchildren.
April 11, 2021
LL, Coal is indeed âold woodâ that grew some millions of years ago. Burning coal today would release CO2 in the present-day atmosphere that had been taken out from the atmosphere of the Carboniferous period 360 to 300 million years ago. You donât seem to know something that PPE graduates, Greta and her followers, and (possibly) 90% of politicians know. Making some equivalence between new wood and old wood as you do is asinine.
What did they teach you at Cambridge?
April 11, 2021
Rubbish, if you want to reduce CO2 (not that this is sensible or needed anyway) you should use new wood to build with (or make furniture) and burn the coal. Allowing new trees to grow to replace the old and capture more carbon. Do the sums!
Burning new wood at Drax does nothing for CO2. Clearly bonfire night should be banned (they do not even use the heat generated from the fires).
April 12, 2021
If one looks at forestresearch.gov.uk âCarbon emissions of different fuelsâ and work out both the energy and CO2 numbers, one can get
For Hard coal 1 tonne produces 29 GJ and given the 115 kg/GJ of CO2 emission, thatâs 3,335 kg of CO2.
For wood pellets 1 tonne produces 17 GJ and given the 4 kg/GJ of CO2 emission, thatâs 68 kg of CO2.
To be really comparable, one has to use 29/17= 1.71 tonne of wood pellets therefore 116 kg of CO2.
LL asks people to do the sums, here they are. NB the wood pellets number does not include the CO2 produced by its transport to the UK, but nor does the hard coal number include any CO2 possibly produced during its extraction and transport to the power stations.
April 12, 2021
Hefner those figure are wrong as they assume a replacement tree grows again in the place of the other one and sucks up the CO2. Best to use the wood to build, grow a replacement tree and burn the coal!
April 12, 2021
@ hefner – wood when burned actually produces more tons of CO2 per mega joule of energy than coal does.
April 13, 2021
@LL
1. How long does it take to grow the replacement coal versus growing the replacement wood?
2. Hefner provides source to reference for the numbers, what is your source (which according to you is more correct)?
3. In the “Fuels for Heating and Power” exhibit of the reference from Hefner, note 1 amplifies on the lifecycle cost and emissions and refers to other material including one that includes data based on using wood chip waste from forest management. Please explain where in that and the other two cited materials it states that the lifecycle estimates include allowance for growing replacement stock, ie growing the plant twice.
April 11, 2021
You lefties love banning things.
April 12, 2021
P2, Lefty or not, one wants statements scientifically sound, not hand-waving based on next to nothing apart from ideologically (not lifelogically)-based statements.
April 13, 2021
LL, The figures do not include such things as your replacement tree blah blah. Point irrelevant, specially as one could think that the new tree (when grown) would include as much potential CO2 as the cut tree that it would replace, therefore zero-sum game, isnât it?
And then no, wood produces less CO2 than coal for the same amount of joules.
Burning wood produces 0.055kg CO2, coal 0.3, oil 0.25, gas 0.19 per kWh.
What actually did you take from all the books you are recommending us to read?
April 12, 2021
Hefner, You just agreed a day or so ago that the increase in CO2 and a slight warming of the Earth over the last couple of centuries was globally beneficial. Greening of the planet? Remember? So why are you still bothered about CO2? You’re not an acolyte of the CAGW hoax are you?
April 13, 2021
If I am an acolyte of anything, it might be of people able to put proper numerical justification and references for the statements they make.
Would you agree with such a thing or the pleasure of shutting up people is enough for you?
April 14, 2021
NickC, Well in fact yes I remember: If you had cared to read (and possibly understand) I did not say anything about how beneficial this greening of marginal areas on the edges of deserts was, just pointing them out (with the exception of the possibly beneficial newly irrigated Chinese areas supposed to fight the emergence of dust storm sources). And I had put the reference of a recent Nature paper showing that agricultural productivity had not been increasing with increasing CO2.
April 11, 2021
They have locked us in our houses, denied us medical treatment, forced us to wear masks, denied us human contact and subjected us to a plethora of other hardships connected with imprisonment. Many elderly have died and now the government is forcibly medicating us.
And nobody of status has intervened.
Do you really believe they will care when we are cold?
Hungry?
Without jobs or transport?
April 11, 2021
Everhopeful
Quite!
It feels like weâre entering the realms of a sci-fi film. One of the futuristic dystopian ones that are post law snd order, where the mighty rule over everyone else in an uncaring and selfish way… everyone is poor, but ruled with an iron fist of punishment and rewards,
April 11, 2021
‘It feels like weâre entering the realms of a sci-fi film’ – its been like that since the fall of man in The Garden of Eden.
Only solution is to embrace the values and spirit of Judaeo-Christianity (and best of Greco-Roman) that gave us Sir Isaac Newton, Protestant work ethic, patriotism, family values, Mozart, Parliament, St Paul’s Cathedral, Oxford, the Renaissance, knights, chivalry, true cheerfulness, Shakespeare, the beauty and excitement and mystery and romance of the Song of Songs and so on.
April 11, 2021
+1
April 11, 2021
Agreed. The cognitive dissonance is exercised in spades. Do people really think that the government cares about their health by spending millions on nonsense tests for ‘coronavirus’ whilst effectively defunding treatments for diseases such as cancer which are far more prevalent?
zorro
April 11, 2021
+1
April 11, 2021
I support every word – MPs have been lacking….they’re scared of the media
April 11, 2021
+1
April 11, 2021
They even killed 1000+ extra by getting the vaccination priority wrong.
April 11, 2021
+1
April 11, 2021
Please provide proof for your assertion, that someone has died solely because they did not get a vaccination a month or so earlier than the might.
April 11, 2021
Vaccinating over 80 women at the same rate as over 80 men cost lives.
Not vaccinating care home staff while patients moved to and fro between hospital and care home cost lives.
Not vaccinating intensive care staff early enough cost lives.
Do you still want better proof?
April 11, 2021
If you vaccinate men five year younger than women you make the vaccination of that 5 year group about 33% more efficient (if your do that maths). If you vaccinate 1000 men of 60 you save about double the number of lives as doing 1000 women of 60.
So if you vaccine in that way down to say 60 for men 65 for women you save perhaps circa 10% or so more deaths. Hancock claims vaccination have saved 10,400 lives this year and he is right 10% more is 1,040 more.
April 12, 2021
I am not asking for your theories, I am asking for documented verifiable proof that some actual men actually died because they didn’t get a vaccination a couple of weeks before the might have done.
If you cannot prove any lives were actually lost for that reason then your claim that your proposal actually saves lives is not valid. Instead you are indulging in the same precautionary principle as those in the environmental domain you complain about so much.
April 11, 2021
Everhopeful – The real conspiracy theorists believe that their government cares about them, the media would never mislead or lie to them and the pharmaceutical industry that makes billions from sickness wants to cure them.
April 11, 2021
John’s opening sentence is completely untrue. These people want to talk about many things, and there are plenty just now. Reducing CO2 emissions is but one of them.
April 11, 2021
Iâm sorry, but this is getting a bit bizarre. I bought a copy of the I yesterday. I reached page 22 before I found one word that was not about the Queenâs husband. This feels reminiscent of the hysteria after Diana died. If Jesus returned and died, would he get this much coverage. The BBC has apparently been deluged with complaints about their truly weird 24/7 coverage of this âeventâ
April 11, 2021
+1
April 11, 2021
I very much regret the death of Prince Philip.
But the lefty wing anti-monarchist press is surely exploiting his sad passing to divert attention from the wheels coming off the COVID bus.
April 11, 2021
I take it that by your definition the Daily Mail, Express, Times, Telegraph, Sun etc. are all “Lefty”.
April 11, 2021
Indeed they are apart from the sensible A Heath and C Moore what has happened to A Heath I hope he is not ill?
April 12, 2021
Aye…
April 11, 2021
And I expect Prince Philip is trying his best to tell us to get a grip too !!!
I wonder what he really thought of lockdown.
April 11, 2021
Mike Wilson
This zinger of an article by Jeremy Clarkson might make you feel differently.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/14601502/jeremy-clarkson-you-never-saw-prince-philip-slouch/
I met the DofE once and the guy had James Bond charisma and humour beyond that. He didn’t need a script.
I thank the Queen for having married him and sharing him with the nation. He was a brilliant man. Brilliant.
April 11, 2021
Pie in the sky policies. De industalise the Western economies to the advantage of Russia, China and India.
Who is leading this socialist nonesense.
It’s time we had a proper government. Trump was right so he had to go.
April 11, 2021
+1
April 11, 2021
Ian Wragg
+1 So very true Ian.
The Americans might well live to regret the loss of Mr Trump.
April 11, 2021
+1
April 11, 2021
Good morning
Sir John, is there a way to have the “POST A COMMENT” link moved to the bottom of the Article ? This would mean that, if we wish to make a comment, we would not have to scroll all the way back up to the top.
Cheers.
—
Watermelons ! Green on the outside, red on the inside. That is what those who promote so called Green issues. They are in favour of Big State and use such issues to further that cause.
China, India, Russia and others are looking after their own national interests. They see energy and energy independence as key and are making sure that they are going to maintain access to it. The UK is blessed with its own energy reserves in the form of oil, gas, coal and shale gas. Yes we also have wind, some hydro and wave but we are a heavily populated nation and we have all but outlawed our own use and therefore independence in this. Such backward thinking and policies will confine us to importing our energy with all the pitfalls that entails.
Renewables cannot make up the shortfall in current energy needs and will certainly not be able to meet future demands. Current policy is therefore totally at odds with reality which is usually the sign of fanaticism. This is the last thing we need.
When cars became more and more popular the future of the horse as a mode of transport became less popular all the industries surrounding it either had to change or die. This change was not forced upon them from up high but came from technology and consumer demand. It was natural progression. What we are witnessing is State Megalomania coupled with the fanaticism mentioned above. The insane belief that mankind has, or can, change the climate when we all know that it is the Sun that is the ‘primary mover’ leads me to believe that too much power has been centred on too few individuals with the ability to use said power wisely. And this past year and beyond all the events suggest that this maybe the case.
April 11, 2021
Sorry, should say – ” . . . the inability to use power wisely . . .
April 11, 2021
+1
April 12, 2021
Sadly the manufacturing process of an electric car battery uses up the same amount of CO2 as running an ICE car does in six or seven years of motoring. In other words electric cars need to run for sixty thousand miles before they become carbon neutral. This makes them only five (5%) percent more efficient than motor cars. By governments pushing apace this new form of tech, traditional car manufacturers will not be making ICE’s more efficient – they only need to be more than five percent more efficient, remember, to be cleaner than electric cars – it’s mad I tell ye, mad!
April 11, 2021
As an example of their couldnât care less approach, their virtue signalling on Huweii is costing the teiecoms industry ÂŁ2 billion to replace its kit, despite the national security services being all over it and finding little/no evidence of a threat. China has dealt with it as an elephant would with a fly.
OpenRan was spun as the replacement relying on the publicâs lack of knowledge that the development was in its infancy. The digital minister commissioned a report, another year wasted and it looks as if HMG may invest ÂŁ250million to help research, so another few years before we can get back to where we were with Huweii.
In world terms we are 35ish in the league table of broadband roll out. This sums up the mediocrity we employ, both politicians and civil servants.
In other news is anyone else struck by the disappearance of the normally voluble and self promoting Michael Gove. Nothing to do with the mayhem his NI protocol is causing? Plus zero comment from Boris who notably said âover my dead bodyâ etc.
Classic examples of political cowardice.
April 11, 2021
Agreed, Sir John, ‘the priority must be to generate a full and strong recovery from the pandemic measures’ (you mean lockdown measures, I guess). How do we do that? There’s already a model that we can follow: Texas. All restrictions lifted, people back to work, economy recovering.
Yes, there’s scope for some environmentally friendly stuff if people want that, personally I don’t, but let people pay for what they want. There’s a massive consumer boom that’s waiting to happen here, after a year of lockdown. But people need to regain confidence in normality – the government must first end the state of fear. Johnson’s timid ‘roadmap’ may not bring the recovery we need.
April 11, 2021
“When asked how there will be growth as we come out of lockdown they all tell us the same thing. The new jobs will come in renewable energy, battery cars and the rest. They do not go on to say that there will also be big job losses in fossil fuels, traditional transport systems and home heating.”
That is either an admission that the current technologies are less efficient or somewhat contradictory. Surely people will largely carry on doing what they have done or will retain their jobs but retrain for the new technologies, school leavers will modify their career pathways within their chosen field.
Plumbers will still be needed even if home heating system are all electric, EVs still need to be assembled & maintained, electric buses, trams & trains will still need to be supervised even if they are packed full of ‘self-drive’ technology, those currently working in gas or oil fired .power stations will transfer to maintaining renewables or nuclear, those maintaining the national power grid will see little change, other than the location of their intake feeds.
Yes those working directly in oil refineries and gas distribution etc. will be affected but that has always been the case as technoligy advances, many men lost their jobs when BR eliminated the steam engine or closed routes better served by bus or private car, many men lost their jobs when coal gave way to more efficient technologies – the right wing were not sentimental then, progress it was called…
April 11, 2021
Yes, but market forces determined that change, not edicts from the Government that is outlawing the sale of petrol and diesel cars and the cancellation of gas home heating by a totally arbitrary target of 2030. All of which are based on a flawed notion that climate change is due to the relatively small amount of CO2 expelled into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels and that getting to net zero by 2050 is the solution.
If you want a greener planet then you should enrich the atmosphere with CO2 not curtail it. Geology shows that the world was greener and more productive when there were higher concentrations of CO2 in the air.
Travel in this direction can only end badly.
April 11, 2021
@Malcolm White; “Travel in this direction can only end badly.”
Arbitrary target can be good though, what was it that JFK said about a man walking on the Moon before the decade was out? A totally arbitrary target, and in its-self (at the time) of doubtful scientific value, but it kick-started a technological revolution in both civil and, perhaps more importantly, the military sectors.
Of course if someone, for idealogical reasons, totally disbelieves in such a project, and if they hold significant power or influence, feasible or not, any target will be missed, ten years or a hundred years…
April 11, 2021
300 million years ago (end of the Carboniferous Period) the concentration of O2 was 35 percent. Would you say this could have any influence?
April 11, 2021
“This year China is talking of bringing forward her conversion to starting to lower carbon dioxide.”
Sure “talking”, are they talking about freedom of speech and human rights in Hong Kong, releasing their claims over Taiwan and about the many human rights abuses in China too?
Talk is all you will get. But on the lower C02 plant food agenda they are quite right just to pretend, talk and do nothing until technology makes some breakthroughs – probably in cheaper, safer nuclear power units or practical nuclear fusion.
April 11, 2021
Please can we have some sanity for the UK’s energy and transport policies put people who can think – like Lords Lilley, Ridley and Lawson in charge of it. At least some people who understand the realities of Physics/Energy/Climate/Economics and Engineering unlike the current deluded dopes.
April 11, 2021
Fully agreed.
April 14, 2021
LL, Is that a babyâs burp?
April 11, 2021
Zero carbon…Zero Covid..
Distress because Zero Measles status has been lost ( another ramped up disease).
The arrogant hubris.
WHAT ABOUT US??
April 11, 2021
You wouldn’t talk about measles in a trivial fashion if your chold had caught it before having the vaccine. It’s a terrible disease and I was lucky my child had no permanent symptoms she was extremely ill though and I wouldn’t wish it on any child.
April 11, 2021
One can die from a rose thorn in the finger.
April 11, 2021
And ignorance
April 11, 2021
Yes.
It is always as well to take care. Wash the wound…get a tetanus jab.
But it is a fact of life that people get ill.
And we can not have our lives ruled by government ambition.
And fear.
April 11, 2021
I sense where you are coming from…..
April 11, 2021
and zero unemployment, zero poverty, zero crime, zero decentâŠ.brave new world (sorry not a brave new world but a government of the conservative party)
April 11, 2021
+1
April 11, 2021
A good basic reading list for deluded greens, MPs and anyone interested in climate and energy reality:-
Fake Invisible Catastrophes and Threats of Doom by Patrick Moore
An Appeal to Reason: A Cool Look at Global Warming by Nigel Lawson
Sustainable Energy â without the hot air Kindle Edition by David MacKay (Author) free on line
False Alarm: How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet
by Bjorn Lomborg
How to Spend $75 Billion to Make the World a Better Place by BjĂžrn Lomborg
The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World Kindle Edition by BjĂžrn Lomborg
How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom by Matt Ridley
April 11, 2021
Also Ian Plimerâs book âThe Climate Change Delusionâ.
Interesting to read the sensible letters from the Duke of Edinburgh sent in 2018 to climate expert Ian Plimer which complimented Mr Plimer on his book. So rather more sensible than most of his progeny it seems. The right thing for Prince Charles to do on this and other political topics would be to keep schtum, as the Queen very sensibly does. Particularly as Charles is wrong.
April 11, 2021
+1
April 11, 2021
+1
April 11, 2021
LL- People do not read very much these days as their attention span is very short. They watch TV and believe everything it throws at them. They also walk around with their phones glued in their hand waiting for some stupid message from a stupid friend.
April 11, 2021
Indeed they do, even my own children.
April 11, 2021
So far a huge amount of talk, but little increase in the number of power plants (in the UK) that will act as the backbone of supply when the sun does not shine, and the wind does not blow.
Has anyone worked out yet if the existing cable structure of the grid will take all of this extra power, will we need to rethink it, renew it, or simply wait for a melt down, only to then hear “lessons will be learn’t”
How many appliances and vehicles will be scrapped before their normal working life cycle, because of punitive tax rises placed upon them.
If we are not to extract oil, what material is going to replace all of the plastic parts to be found in all of the above.
As you comment JR if anyone is serious about tackling this problem (if indeed it is man made) then you start with the largest so called abusers, so that you get an immediate benefit effect, you do not start with the small abusers.
A 50% reduction in the UK’s footprint is less than 1% of the total World solution.
Anyone doing anything about de forestation ?
Anyone worked out the so called cost of this for a given population and the current citizens of each Country.
Taxpayer subsidies (bribes) are not the answer, they are more than half the problem, because if needed you prove to everyone that the new is more expensive than the old.
April 11, 2021
The Secretary of State responsible for broadband, one of the biggest drivers of economic growth and efficiency has got a law degree, worked for the Tory Party then a PR co (shades of Cameron) then his SPAd any only elected in 2015.
Compare that to the CVS of men and women running our large corporates and now understand why governments are mired in mediocrity and waste.
And in related news only last year senior civil servants said hydrogen had no future in anything other than marine propulsion. Cue another key area that the worlds allegedly 5/6th biggest nation is well down the list.
April 11, 2021
Clever knowledgeable people will never enter politics so don’t expect sensible ideas from government. Any efficient good policies coming from govt. will be accidental and then takes years and years to see any light if at all.
April 11, 2021
You say – “the USA has converted to being a leading advocate of rapid transition to an electrified renewable world.”
Not really some deluded dopes at the tops are making virtue signally noises but it will not happen in reality. Reality and the laws of physics & engineering cannot be fooled. They think, like Boris, Gove and Carrie there are votes in it. In reality when the proverbial hits the fan there will be no net votes in it.
April 11, 2021
They intend not to be worrying about votes. They have machines to resolve that problem.
April 11, 2021
+1
April 11, 2021
Certainly they have. Our F.T.P.A. keeps them safe for now. If we are not sufficiently cowed by then they’ll find some other way to stay in power.
April 11, 2021
The entire project is a disastrous delusion. Green energy is expensive, unreliable and totally dependent on fossil fuels to mine the materials and build the infrastructure. That is assuming there are enough of those rare materials to make the solar cells and wire those electric wonder cars that will need to defy the laws of physics to do what is claimed. Copper will need to be supplied at roughly 5 times the rate it is currently being mined just for all the cars let alone wind turbines. Even if you could build all those turbines they will litter the whole countryside, kill most birdlife and only work when it’s windy- but not too windy- and require fossil fueled backups for the rest of the time. This government claims to be led by science- which would be an absolute joke if it weren’t so dangerous.
What a shame politicians aren’t based on reality not money.
April 11, 2021
Ask yourself where ALL the money goes for the Paris Climate Accord. On the climate!!!!!!!!! Wake up people you are being fooled.
April 11, 2021
Alan, You’re quite right. My starting point is having nuclear power stations to produce electricity, to have our own reliable electric grid.
There are still countless problems involved in producing and charging these wonder vehicles.
April 11, 2021
Quote from Prince Philip in Ghana when told they had 200 MPs.
âWe have 650 and most of them are a bloody waste of timeâ
April 11, 2021
Nig1. Never a truer word.
April 11, 2021
Easy to say from a position in an ivory tower. Many MPs are hard working constituency MPs constrained in terms of ever being truly effective by our weird political system with its constitutional monarchy.
April 11, 2021
If they were only a waste of time that would not be so bad. They are far worse. They do massive active harm, counterproductive wars on a lie as an example. About 10-20% of MPs are sound at best. Only a tiny handful did not vote for the insane climate change act, an example of appalling and vastly expensive stupidity. Then we have HS2, the communist NHS and entering the âCommon Marketâ.
April 11, 2021
+1
April 11, 2021
Good reply L/L.
April 11, 2021
Thinking back over H of C activity and votes since 2016 I’d suggest a lot more than 200 have been a complete waste of time, largely due to the stranglehold HQ have over selection and keeping ‘the useful idiot’ in power.
April 11, 2021
And as Dennis Thatcher said “The Foreign Office only works for the foreigners”
April 11, 2021
The ideological Marxist policies now dominating world thinking are not only unaffordable, but highly dangerous. We’re heading for a world of peasants existing on rationed scraps and doing the bidding of all-powerful overlords. Where are the champions of common sense willing to stand apart from the crowd, defending OUR rights and fighting for OUR interests?
April 11, 2021
‘… and doing the bidding of all-powerful overlords…’ Yes, as the European countries and others do at the behest of the USA in many circumstances – there are many examples. The USA knows if found out nothing will ever happen as what can one do against an all powerful state which can do anything, however evil. If you find out and tell you will be jailed, kidnapped or poisoned or shot. Russia can do the same but the US is just as expert if not more so and can harm other countries at will.
April 11, 2021
Yes many “green” policies are for the benefit of the well off elite who can afford electric cars, dearer food and very expensive transition and running heating costs. The standard of living of the average and poorer members of the society will be put back more than 100 years – will they vote for it when the penny drops?
April 11, 2021
BJC
Exactly where are they? You can count up on two hands those who are capable of meeting the requirements of your last sentence. They are all banished to the back benches and ignored
April 11, 2021
I find battery design to be fragmented and only in the interest of the self indulgent designer.
The design should be of a standardised universal unit that can be exchanged when flat at a charging/battery supply station ..simply slide out and replace with a fully charged unit ..and off you go. I fear it’s too late for any government intervention.
April 11, 2021
I agree that is a much better idea I think; they could be “beer kegs” size/shape- material etc, for example; more economic growth in that, garage forecourts, trucks moving the “kegs” around like pallets, different contracts… Company A gives you some many megawatts for such a price as oppose the competitor etc. The making/maintenance of “kegs” garages could have wind turbines to charge them, for greeness… No need for impractical street parked power points that way.
April 11, 2021
Who pays for a replacement battery when they no longer hold a charge.
Would you buy a brand new electric car with ÂŁ10,000 of batteries included, then swap them for batteries that could be 5 years old after 150-200 miles ?
Not me that’s for sure.
April 11, 2021
Only problem is … I like to fill up from half, or at least a quarter. What happens to the surpluses left in batteries and people won’t be able to risk driving to zero and getting stranded. In any case. ..
9 years to get this going.
Chop chop !!!
April 11, 2021
The cartel of the 4 large Japanese motorcycle manufacturers have come together for a single inter-changeable design â probably a single source common part supply
Why donât we continue the ICE fossil fuel developments of the past 40 years ? Year on year ICE vehicle have been improving efficiency while reducing emissions ?
April 11, 2021
Indeed changeable uniform batteries should in theory make a lot of sense by avoiding waiting around for hours while the car charges. The problem is they are heavy and expensive so changeover difficult, safety and other issues arise. The battery weight is ideally located low down and fairly evenly across the car footprint and it needs to be very well secured too. The other option is to change cars fully but people will not like the hassle of that or the aromas of the last people.
Best stick with your old car for now seems by far the best policy, far cheaper, far more flexible, can tow you boat and much greener too.
April 11, 2021
Ah yes. Towing ones boat. A very high priority for everyone I know, not. How out of touch are you?
April 11, 2021
Or working class caravan, trailer, horse box … who was that female labour MP with the caravan hobby?
April 11, 2021
So after 10 years by 2040 everyone in UK is driving EVs and changing batteries every 2 years, the rest of Europe has started to do the sameâŠ..what do we do when the material for the batteries start to become scarce and expensive and controlled by a small number of countries â countries we donât like
https://unctad.org/ – United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
50% of cobalt are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC),
58% of lithium are in Chile
80% of natural graphite are in China, Brazil and Turkey
75% of manganese are in Australia, Brazil, South Africa and Ukraine
April 12, 2021
Glen
Exactly a point I have also made before, the World order/power then changes.
April 11, 2021
There isn’t a ‘virus problem’, SJR. There’s a people problem, people who might vote for causes like Brexit or Trump, and influence government policy. The dangers of such things happening are obvious (if you’re a corporate billionaire). But yes, maybe the vaccines will indeed ‘take care of’ that problem, too.
April 11, 2021
Of what, exactly, is your hat made?
I suspect that it is quite shiny.
April 11, 2021
The whole world it seems is infatuated with with this GREEN-ness thing. If they really meant sensible then I’d be onboard.
Any talk of something GREEN and I switch off, because the word has been adulterated to mean a dogmatic approach to an unchallengeable religion – something that cannot be touched or criticised, something that now takes precedence over human life.
… and yet we now hear that they will not really change anything!
NET ZERO is the full expression of the unreality of this religion – Badly thought out and executed by decree rather than ability or common sense.
With so many suggestions coming out that the new normal requires continuing restrictions, how can we ever believe we will ever be free of the effects of this alleged pandemic?
Combining the continuing lockdowns with NET ZERO and you have a recipe to totally destroy the world economy.
Everybody wants sensible policies, but ones driven by reason. We are certainly not getting that currently.
April 11, 2021
Yes
Look at the deaths in the UK over the last 30 years – Last year was not exceptional.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transparencyandgovernance/freedomofinformationfoi/deathsintheukfrom1990to2020
Lockdowns did nothing to lower the death rate, rather it helped to breed variants of the virus.
April 11, 2021
Bryan
Agreed
Half the World has been shut down by the pandemic for the last year, Trains empty, planes not in the air, cars little used, shops closed, offices closed, Businesses Closed, Theatres Closed Cinema’s closed, pubs Closed, sports stadiums Closed, a huge number of people stayed at home, has it made any difference to the environment, and if not why not ?
April 12, 2021
Alan, no, it’s still as unpredictable as ever. Compare this Spring to last year!
April 12, 2021
the only conclusion is that it isn’t cars…….so why the race to blame cars ???
April 11, 2021
The world is already drowning in debt. In some countries the level of debt is beyond the point of recovery by the achievement of more growth and productivity; substantial write offs will be required causing substantial losses for those holding the debts. The push for “green” alternative sources of energy will add to debts, reduce growth rates and reduce productivity because it will only be achieved via government diktat, compulsion and taxation and not by market forces which, by their very nature, weed out the unwanted and/or the inefficient. It will all end very badly indeed for those determined to follow the course of compulsion. The Johnson government appears determined to be at the forefront of this charge; his political opponents appear to believe he is not moving fast enough. We had a foretaste of this when Cameron called a meeting of investment managers at No 10 to extoll the benefits of “guaranteed returns” from government sponsored investments in wind farms and solar energy farms. These “guaranteed returns” are paid for by consumers in their energy prices. The honest approach for government to take is to part seed research and development in conjunction with others ready and willing to take on the risk of failure (they do exist) and let competition between potential solutions determine the outcome. Instead we get dishonest declarations about about zero this or that by some arbitrary date with little clue about how it will actually be achieved – that date, of course, will be long after the said politician will actually be around and responsible for the proclaimed outcome. In the meantime the existing productive economy is trashed.
April 11, 2021
More and more conferences that serve no purpose other guarantees thousands of tonnes of CO2 being generated with all the delegates travel plans.
Please tell them Sir John: Stop pissing down our necks and telling us it’s raining.
April 11, 2021
+1
April 11, 2021
You think JR will do that even in a politer way?
April 11, 2021
+1
April 11, 2021
9 February 2021, source edie newsroom. “RenewableUKâs latest Energy Storage Project Intelligence research, published last week, reveals that 16.1GW of battery storage capacity is either operating, under construction or is being planned in the UK. The capacity is spread across 729 projects.
BEIS moved in summer to ease planning restrictions for utility-scale batteries, permitting cells over 50MW in England and arrays over 350MW in Wales. Additionally, the National Grid ESO has claimed that the emergence and integration of new technologies mean that a zero-carbon electricity grid by 2025 would be feasible.”
April 11, 2021
What! – no reply to this?
April 11, 2021
Denis, there was a following comment from me that did not pass moderation. I understand why, JR would get a smack from his party Whips if he had published it. But, I/We have fun testing what truths he is frit to publish.
Reply I do not get a smack from the whips for this site which is neither an official MP site nor a Conservative party site. I delete items that are too long with too many unchecked references, wrong facts or unproven allegations against individuals and institutions. I afford the same protection to Labour as to Conservative politicians. Testing me out is a good way to hasten my use of the delete button.
April 11, 2021
If this site is not an official MP site nor a Conservative party site, what exactly is its purpose? Like it or not you are a political entity. What exactly is your message and who is your intended audience; and, what are you intending to achieve that is outside of current Downing Street Conservative thinking?
reply Reply try reading it seriously instead of just reading it to try and pick holes in whatever I set out and then you would know the answer.
April 12, 2021
Acorn, try looking at this site from a completely different perspective – one that gives Sir John information on how a wide variety of members of the voting public are thinking about issues of the day.
Mind you, the information it gives me, all too often, is that many posters just love to be aggressive/hysterical rather than analytic.
April 11, 2021
All part of the Business Elimination and Industrial Suppression department’s plans for ever more expensive electricity. The thing is that the actual energy storage capacity of the batteries averages little more than an hour. They are designed to deal with grid stabilisation problems that are becoming ever greater as renewables penetration is increased. Every time the Grid touts some new renewables record you should look at the daily balancing costs for curtailment and the provision of stabilisation services. They are not ever going to provide an economic solution to covering periods of low wind and sun. Another renewables article I read in the past few days estimated we are going to need at least 50GW of gas fired generation to do that. You can do it the cheap way – which is to run the generation and forget about the renewables as simply an added layer of cost – or you can opt for really expensive ways of doing it, involving carbon capture and/or using hydrogen as a high cost intermediary. The result will be Business Elimination and Industrial Suppression – and economic impoverishment.
April 11, 2021
No one is going to pin China down regarding CO2 levels or anything else for that matter.
The only thing that China cares about is China and it will do what it wants, when it wants, how it wants and the rest of the world can go forth and multiply unless it suits their short, long term plans and aspirations.
April 11, 2021
Hear, hear!
April 11, 2021
Yes, just like the USA.
April 11, 2021
Turbo. Correct
April 11, 2021
The inadequacies within this new religion are patent. It is because at the moment the religious fanatics hold sway while government lacks the talent to even understand it or the science and engineeding that could provide the answers.
Meanwhile those that care ask why we continue to despoil the planet with all our detritus. The aftermath of the recent weekend of freedom was for all to see. The British are a filthy ill bred bunch of vandals barely fit for the freedom they demand. Little realising that with freedom comes responsibility.
April 11, 2021
Hear, hear!
April 11, 2021
The Church Of The One True Brexit, you mean?
Yes, I agree.
April 11, 2021
There is one big area that has not been given much thought regarding charging of EV’s. Holiday cottages etc. Yes some hotels have got maybe 2 charging points but I would hazard a guess and say viritually all holiday homes let out to tourists haven’t got anything. Not even a domestic outdoor socket for a slow charge. Indeed some of the properties I have stayed in haven’t had parking near to the house at all. Imagine driving 250 miles to a property and then having to faff around finding a charging point, hoping one is not being used already and then having to hover around until you have charged up. Bloody ridiculous. The country is nowhere near ready for this crap John.
April 11, 2021
So infuriatingly obvious too.
April 11, 2021
Fedupsoutherner
Just wait and see !
People will take an extension cable and charge up from the rented property using a 13 amp socket, owners permission or not, this has huge implications for the house owner with regards to use/stealing of the electricity, fire insurance, Health and Safety (cable hazards), and a host of other problems etc etc.
April 11, 2021
Alan, precisely. Problems that haven’t been addressed yet. Safety concerns over the way extension leads will be used too.
April 11, 2021
I am not in favour of all these plans you talk about until the politicians start putting figures against each sector of “improvement” so that the people paying for all of it can see how much the taxpayer is being called upon to cough up.
Get this country excuse the pun “firing on all cylinders” the new generation of ICEs are very efficient and far less polluting. Use the existing technology that we have got to increase employment and cheap energy, then and only then can you start to go for all these grandiose ideas to save the world as earning taxpayers will have that feel good factor about them and might be more considerate to all these expensive dreams that keep raising their ugly heads. All the time that is going on the real scientists and engineers will be designing properly researched new kit at affordable prices to the benefit of this country and its people. No more knee jerk decisions let’s have common sense and attention to detail especially the true costs involved. Then the people might to join you on the journey wherever it is going to.
April 11, 2021
Sir John – you are closer to the Government than any of us who post here, and more experienced in what drives politicians.
The powers-that-be surely must know that the pronouncements of Attenborough and Thunberg et al have little connection with either economic reality or the man in the street’s practical concerns. Any rational person wants a clean environment, locally and globally, but can you tell us what is really driving the UK government to dive headlong into this CO2 insanity? After all, barely 40 years ago, we were being told that the world was going to enter a terrifying Ice Age, and that it was unlikely we would survive to see the 21st century.
April 11, 2021
Sorry, JR can tell you nothing about that, as he didn’t reply.
April 11, 2021
SM – …what drives politicians….
The World Economic Forum Global Reset. Klaus Schwab. Build Back Better.
Look at todays subject title, Grow back Green and similar for other topics.
They are all pushing the agenda.
April 11, 2021
I have read that cyclically we are still heading towards another ice age. Geology defines us as being in an interglacial period.It is said that the warming effect causes sea levels to rise with the consequence of diluting salt water . Highly salted water is denser than a more dilute form of H2o and therefore holds heat , however prior to the cooling, the warming effect atmospherically and that of land mass causes meltwaters to higher sea level enough to cause a more rapid cooling, thereby leading to an ice age. Its out of balance !When ? who knows?
April 11, 2021
+1
April 11, 2021
“With the worldâs two largest economies not contributing to the cause it was more difficult for other countries to sell the idea to their public…”
Very much so here in the UK – they simply inflicted the idea upon the public (new ICE cars banned from 2030, with browbeating for expensive heat pumps in place of inexpensive gas boilers not far behind) without taking the trouble to sell it. We need only look at how unpopular the Green Party and its manifesto and policies have been in successive general elections.
April 11, 2021
The Green Party got twice as many votes as Farage in the last election.
It is a shocking indictment of the electoral system that you need almost 1m votes to elect a single Green MP when you need just 30,000 to elect a Tory.
You are in a minority group too. You just behave like you arenât.
April 11, 2021
Greens 865,707 votes
Brexit Party 644,257 votes
Maths not your strong point, but then what is?
April 11, 2021
Oh – my mistake. Farage got a little bit more than half the vote of the Greens.
He really is that irrelevant.
April 12, 2021
Andy, 75% is not a bit more than half the votes of the Greens – this amount was amazing too considering Farage pulled nearly all his candidates from the election following Boris promises.
April 11, 2021
No need to worry yourself Andy, chances are we won’t be voting Tory anyway.
April 11, 2021
In latest polls Conservatives are over 10 points ahead of Labour.
A bigger lead than at the last election.
April 11, 2021
The Tories have had a year long nationwide emergency and a Royal death – both of which rally people to the flag.
And polls show they are still only single digits ahead of a new Labour leader – whoâs been unable to make any campaign visits since he took over – and who doesnât get an hour of free prime time TV publicity for âpress conferencesâ three times a week.
Starmer would be 20 points ahead or more had the roles been reversed.
April 11, 2021
Andy
There are two flags here.
One is of Britishness and respect for the Monarchy, the other is Johnson’s phony flag.
We might be rallied to the flag as it were, but not the one Johnson waves.
I believe your hypothesis concerning Starmer is a fair anaolgy, even in terms of basic common sense I think Starmer is leagues ahead of Boris.
April 11, 2021
Wrong Andy
Polls (over 40 of them show a double digit lead.
April 11, 2021
Peter 2
But wait until people realise what this globalist’s puppet government is up to, which they will when they realise virtue signalling and following like judas sheep actually destroys your right to be warm, fed, financially secure and mobile.
The penny will drop, give it time.
April 11, 2021
The Brexit Party was told to withdraw from my area, which it did.
They did so in lots of areas.
Fact Free Andy does it again.
April 11, 2021
Andy – Strange conclusion when 50,000 Green votes in most constituencies would return a Green MP.
Not your strong suit, is it, maths or logic?
April 11, 2021
Yes David it is ridiculous to ban production of ICE cars and penalise gas central heating. Typical of our present government. No basic common sense, no knowledge of even simple scientific reality and no economic sense either.
April 11, 2021
Quite. If only we could have a referendum on Net Zero (aka the Great Leap Backward) and the repeal of the Climate Change Act.
April 11, 2021
Pauline
“No basic common sense, no knowledge of even simple scientific reality and no economic sense either.”
It isn’t that they lack common sense, more the fact that they’re a bunch of very skillful con merchants pulling off the biggest scam in history. These people are not blindly incompetent, they’re extremely dangerous.
April 11, 2021
A well-expressed article and echoing the views of many of us who comment on this site.
As you have pointed out there are thousands of people swanning around the planet attending conferences and summits, living the high-life on the back of the Green agenda.
Where are the realists? Of course, there are no conferences and summits for the expression of the downside of the net-zero religion.
Western politicians are playing right into the hands of Chinese expansion. Maybe the Chinese have planned this and infiltrated our institutions over the last few decades.
Iâm all for less pollution but what we see is completely unviable policies. Environmental issues that are achievable like the halt in the plunder of fish from our seas and the reduction in the growth of the human population are not tackled effectively.
April 11, 2021
+1
April 11, 2021
Christine – ….the reduction in the growth of the human population are not tackled effectively.
Any one who has had the experimental jab for the so called covid pandemic has contributed to your statement.
April 11, 2021
+1
April 11, 2021
Christine
“there are no conferences and summits for the expression of the downside of the net-zero religion.”
Of course not, we don’t get invites to Bilderberg meetings.
April 11, 2021
‘As it seems likely governments will prove better at stopping people buying the outgoing technology than they will be at getting enough people to buy the replacements, there could be a painful transition.’…. This is the most accurate comment. They know they won’t be able to generate enough electricity so the majority of people will go without heat or cars. What will happen to mortality as a result?
zorro
April 11, 2021
Let’s remember the plans of the UN and members of the World Economic Forum for a truly massive reduction in world population. Certainly those people won’t be offering themselves up to start the process.
April 11, 2021
David J
They have no intention to reduce world population….think of all that cheap labour they can exploit, and British & American jobs that can be sacrificed.
April 11, 2021
Spot on zorro. I’l probably die of cold, before hunger.
April 11, 2021
Dying of cold in an EV with no power in December in the snow in the middle of nowhere
April 11, 2021
Most of the UK has colder weather and snow and ice risk in Jan, Feb and March than December.
Longer risk than one month.
April 11, 2021
poetic licence rules
April 11, 2021
I read that radiators will have to be 10 degrees cooler for us to reach our climate targets. With any luck the currently errupting Icelandic Krysuvik volcanic system which last went off 800 years ago; bringing in a cool period, will sort “climate change” out for us now and we can turn up the gas. I literally can’t believe we are seriously entertaining this nonsense, although that is typical of anything to with climate change; we can all just eat nothing but broad beans, sit in the cold & get our beans delivered by electric vans via the internet “using 1000 times more electricity than now” but it will be ok as it will be via the wind. If there is a turbine in every 20 metre square section throughout the land, and there is a breeze.
I am very glad we have vaccines, and I am very glad we have vaccinated the most vulnerable unlike in Europe; which in-conjunction with folk already having caught it, should mean we are on our way to herd immunity.
However because we may need to re-vaccinate as maybe like a cold you can get it again, or because of different variants I.e. Strains like with flu I do not see vaccines as a panacea going forward. At some point we are going to have to increase and improve the capacity of the NHS to be able to cope, because that was the problem originally; the fear of collapse, bodies lying in the street so we locked down.
But it must be said lockdowns are not a solution going forward; having the NHS Rona only kills everyone else who are made more unwell by not having a job etc.
So I hope we stop throwing good money after bad, quit with the vaccine roll out for now, end endless ineffective ppe & useless test and trace in order to get back to normal, not a pointless new normal; and spend the money saved on better drug treatments/oxygen supplies and isolation hospitals manned by the Army when required.
That way we can keep the jabs incase the protection wears off in say 14 months, for example. Then use them on the most vulnerable again, and via the above be in a better position than in early 2020 to avoid lockdowns going forward as part of living with Covid for ever etc.
April 11, 2021
I am doing my bit by trying not to buy anything made abroad, particularly in the EU and China.
April 11, 2021
It would be nice to buy British, but then the prices are so high with the companies having to pay a pile of tax on the wages they pay, as well as their own dues. The cost has to be borne by the customer.
April 11, 2021
Most of the raw materials of an EV battery come from Turkey, Ukraine and China ?
April 12, 2021
Mike, I bought some great English sparkling wine for a celebration instead of Champagne in Sainsburys. What I found frustrating was that it was on the 3rd shelf down and not easy to find. It should have been at eye level. Indeed, not only was it good quality but a third cheaper than Champagne
April 11, 2021
Good morning Sir John
You have highlighted the situation well. In World Politics as it is internally in the UK the small guy always gets to fund the big guy.
Its just another example of an excuse for subsidies, as well meaning as some are they are perverted for self interest.
The Override for anyone showing a modicum of interest in the people they serve is the economy. Without a strong economy their is no point in this virtual signalling. All I have heard on this subject from the UK Government is their plans to export the UK’s prosperity to Countries that take less interest in being subjugated to others but rather would be in a position of strength
April 11, 2021
+1
April 11, 2021
Why doesn’t the government in England start to remedy the state of English rivers ? Environmentlism is not just about CO2.
How about arresting, putting on trail, and jailing a few water company directors. That might set the ball rolling.
I unfortunately, live in the midst of the area ‘srerved’ by the water company with the worst pollution record, as recently highlighted by Ian Botham.
At certain times of the year, the River Wye turns green, affected by the waste from tens of millions of chickens on ‘farms’ in the area, which is off-loaded into the river. The Environmental Agency does….. nothing very much
.
April 11, 2021
When I was in India in the 60, 70s and 80s and saw the degradation there of the environment and the ubiquitous corruption I said ‘it could never happen in the UK’ !! How wrong I was.
April 11, 2021
My river, the Severn, seems to be a brown or a yellow/brown murk for most of the year.
April 12, 2021
Iago too many chicken farms being granted by councils.
April 11, 2021
Its never been about fixing the environment its about social engineering
April 11, 2021
As I have said before change is inevitable. Coal mining in the UK was once a major employer, but the following generations are employed in other jobs. I remember as a child our area going smokeless – no more “cheap” coal but gas, coke and overnight storage heaters all used in our house instead.
Just had an advert pop up on home ventilation systems (“clean air and save fuel costs”). There are doubtless going to be jobs, and probably regulations, on improving air quality inside buildings as a result of this pandemic (remember sick building syndrome?).
Governments sometimes come up with good ideas (seatbelts and smoking bans for example). But also sometimes come up with stupid ideas (doing away with tax disks, smart motorways, smart meters ….).
As far as “green energy is concerned” the numbers do not really stack up – but there may be some positive spin offs. Time will tell.
PS – Got my “free” NHS lateral flow test pack yesterday – first thing I noticed was a label on the outside “made in China”! Hopefully we will be building up some more biotechnology industries here in the UK in the future.
April 11, 2021
****PS â Got my âfreeâ NHS lateral flow test pack yesterday â first thing I noticed was a label on the outside âmade in Chinaâ! Hopefully we will be building up some more biotechnology industries here in the UK in the future.****
Oughtn’t China be giving this and PPE to the world for free ? Or is it just the UK the BBC, Andy, Left attacks for not giving vaccines away for free (even when we are !)
April 11, 2021
We bought zillions of them – so desperately hoping to use them up, before Joe Public realises that using them is almost a waste of time – ha ha. The next issue is going to be clean-up of the zillions being discarded in the street.
April 11, 2021
We put in bids for millions of them. They are not stockpiled in a wharehouse. Our bids kickstarted production which will benefit the whole world.
April 11, 2021
The new world order / governments is all about âsocial engineeringâ
There was a time when the conservative party advocated âmarket forcesâ
Remember all the slogans âless governmentâ, âless taxâ, âless bureaucracyâ âŠ.where are the men in grey suit when needed ?
April 11, 2021
Agreed Glen.
April 11, 2021
The Government needs to âthinkâ more before embarking on the âgreat resetâ which in UK terms so far is indicating poverty for all
There is nothing wrong with buying from abroad if you have the wealth and money generation to facility it.
Starting with energy, the backbone of industry and commerce. The UK is not self sufficient, what we donât actual import is controlled by the French and Chinese. You cant get past go without their say so â is that a good idea.
To build back better means we have to have Homes that are self contained for their power heat and light, that means buying in the mechanisms from Germany, France and China. The UK has no meaningful production capability.
The same for transport, our transport network is creaking and needs complete updating and replacement. HS2 is often cited as a way forward. In perspective HS2 is built around very old outdated technology, putting a new coat on something that ancient does not make a new and modern system. The for further perspective in the case of HS2 assembling components sent over from Japan is not actualy UK manufacturing for a future.
Our armed services are being marginalised to a Dadâs Army home defence league that can no longer project of defend without the money to buy from foreign domains. I Mean to update old tanks we have to rely on Germany, the UK no longer has the capability, for defence manufacture.
To say buy an electric car from Jaguar or to replace the ageing Land Rovers for the armed forces, means buying from EU Sources they do not come from the UK despite their badging. Its a bit like HP Sauce being Dutch and from Holland or Walls IceCream being from Germany.
You can only have fish to feed the nation from your own territorial waters if the EU permits it â which they donât, UK territory is still Governed by the EU. The same with NI, its EU territory whether the people like it or not, the UK Government has no say. You will be punished by friendly neighbours if you disagree.
This is an endless list that things we think have some connection to the UK and its Wealth that are long gone and removed. In those terms they are not creating wealth but hemorrhaging it.
The real point is all the talk, the virtual signalling, playing to a metro left leaning audience is all pointless unless you first have ensured the wealth and health of the Nation. Nothing this Government has announced or aspired to any leaning to the prosperity of the Country as a whole.
As an economist once said and repeated by a US President âIt the economy stupidâ To think anything else makes ones self stupid
April 11, 2021
So where is all this electricity going to come from? Certainly not from ‘renewables’.
April 11, 2021
How do you know? You canât so certainly not âcertainlyâ
April 11, 2021
How do we know renewables can’t hack it? Ask the Texans left shivering in the dark this winter thanks to over-reliance on renewables. Ask yourself why radiators would reportedly have to be turned down by 10 degrees to hit climate change targets, according to Government advisors the Climate Change Committee. This would be thanks to using electric heat pumps sourced to renewable energy, which couldn’t provide what we currently require.
Older people are going to love this.
April 13, 2021
Interesting given that Texas in a normal winter gets about 30,000 MW from a mix of gas, coal and nuclear and about 7,000 MW from renewables. When the problem occurred in February renewables still were producing 4,000 MW and the main drop, 60 to 80%, was seen when only 6,000 to 12,000 MW were been produced by the GCN mix.
But that has never prevented people unaware of the relatively small fraction of Texas energy produced by renewables from claiming that all the problems were caused by those. Whereas most serious US commentators link the problem to the lack of proper connections between the Texas grid and those of neighbouring states.
What is even more hilarious are those people here commenting on the poor Texan people suffering these awful winter conditions in Texas without even thinking about Montana, the Dakotas, or the Great Lakes states with winters far harsher than Texasâ and which surprisingly did not seem to have had many problems this particular winter season.
So, anything to do with the Texan politicians and the energy policies they have pushed these last ten-twenty years wanting to be energy self-sufficient and not linking with other states?
Ooooh, that would be asking a lot from some readers of this blog, wouldnât it?
April 11, 2021
Why not? The sun, wind, waves and tides can produce far more energy than we will ever need.
April 11, 2021
And as the vaccine successes are studiously ignored by officialdom I am starting to believe in The Great Reset conspiracy.
The AZ vaccine is the worst thing that could have happened for them.
Let’s hope the Queen does not pass during CV-19 restrictions. It is bad enough that we can’t say a proper goodbye to the Duke of Edinburgh.
We need to start asking ourselves exactly how much PPE, vaccine, social distancing, distrust of each other and personal sacrifices we need to put up with in order to continue our dependence on the CCP for our goods.
How much of our liberties are we to give the Communist fifth column in our own country ?
I have lost three friends to lockdown (none to CV-19) and I could only attend one funeral – a beautiful ceremony but only because my solitude and the dignity of those around me.
We must never EVER get used to this.
Most people are saying “second jab and I’m going to ignore the government. ” We have taken an experimental, synthetic drug on Boris’ promise that it was the fast track back to the life we once had.
He must not back down this time.
April 11, 2021
Does anybody seriously believe that India, Russia and especially China will ever go down a route that markedly reduces their emissions? China will do whatever is needed to look after themselves and hang the rest. Also who are we (in our cosy Western bubbles) to deny prosperity and growth to the underdeveloped nations of the world? Whether we like it or not, fossil fuels are here to stay for decades yet. However we must do out utmost to use them much more efficiently and to develop the technologies that do this.
April 11, 2021
+1
April 11, 2021
The green nonsense has to stop. Unfortunately many who have been through their education recently have been thoroughly indoctrinated. If it is not stopped then our population will suffer for no reason and many will be pushed into real poverty.
Let’s focus on real pollution instead, hopefully by removing reliance of on imports from China and the like.
April 11, 2021
“Zero Carbon” is the sort of simplistic target politicians like – as long as they’ll be out of office when it fails.
Carbon Dioxide is plant food (as well as being part of the reason why temps dont drop completely overnight).
The planet’s “average temperature” cannot be calculated accurately. We do not know how much variability of temps occur over time.
Long Term Climate is deterministic but unpredictable, i.e. mathematically chaotic.
Humans behaviour in disrupting ecosystems with their technology, building, farming and destroying the environment is likely to heat the earth far more than a bit of extra plant-food!
April 11, 2021
It really is baffling that people get their knickers in a twist about this.
What possible objection can anybody sensible have to clean energy and to protecting the planet? Why on Earth would you want to dig up the planet and spew toxic filth to power your gas guzzlers when the sun and the wind and the waves can produce all the power we need?
Sure, it will mean an adjustment. But you all really need to get over it – because the change is coming whether you like it or not.
Think of how grateful your grandkids will be when you all start behaving in a socially responsible way. This means no more bonfires – yuk, they are anti-social. It means properly recycling all of your rubbish. How terrible that you have to sort it out!
It means ditching your gas guzzler and embracing electric cars instead. Yes, I think the electric car will have plenty of for your weekly 2 mile drive to the bridge club. It means sticking solar panels on your roof and, eventually, upgrading your boiler to a heat pump. Perhaps it means eating slightly less meat. You really are not being asked to do anything hard.
PS: your lights will still work.
April 11, 2021
I’d like to know when bonfires will stop – in my lifetime?
April 11, 2021
I sincerely hope so. I have a neighbour – elderly chap – who has bonfires almost daily. Even when it is raining. Iâd love him to slapped with an ASBO. Bonfires are so anti-social. Stick it in a green bin instead.
April 11, 2021
Do you have a log burner Andy?
April 11, 2021
Andy
“It means ditching your gas guzzler and embracing electric cars instead. Yes, I think the electric car will have plenty of for your weekly 2 mile drive to the bridge club. It means sticking solar panels on your roof and, eventually, upgrading your boiler to a heat pump. Perhaps it means eating slightly less meat. You really are not being asked to do anything hard.”
Allow me to suggest you become aquainted with real life.
Firstly, I have three Jaguars two straight six’s, and a 3.0 L V6. The former are classics and yes they are gas guzzlers. The latter is not, and is very clean.
Petrol cars have never been cleaner.
Boris Johnson’s stupid Heat Pumps – Do you seriously think people can afford ~ÂŁ10k for the conversion ?
Boris and Elon’s stupid EV’s – Do you think people can afford ~ÂŁ30k for one of these ? do you actually fail to grasp what these things are worth once the battery array has copped out ? Do you think the average person can afford to shell out ÂŁ30k every 2 – 5 years? Do you think everyone should be driving around at 30MPH for fear of becoming stranded ?
Where do you think the money is going to come from? …..I can tell you: sheer DEBT.
….and those with a poor credit rating…. (as alleged by credit reference agencies who are offshore and not subject to data protection & defamation laws)……will be cast aside, unable to travel and unable to work.
Green crap is perhaps the biggest con in history. It’s all about debt and control of people’s lives. Somebody stands to clean up big time, and this government are in it upto their necks.
April 11, 2021
+1
April 11, 2021
According to the RAC the average UK motorist drives about 7,500 miles a year. Most electric car manufacturers now guarantee their batteries for 100,000 miles. So that is a 13.5 years of driving for an average UK motorist.
So why are you claiming drivers would need to change their electric cars every 2 years? That seems like made up nonsense.
The other point you identify is cost – and here you are both right and wrong. Where you are wrong is that, over its lifetime, an electric car is cheaper to own that a petrol car. Fuel is much less expensive. There is virtually zero maintenance on electric cars – only consumables like wiper blades and tyres. So owning an electric car is much cheaper than owning a petrol car – but electric cars are more expensive to buy in the first place.
The same is true of heat pumps. Much cheaper to operate but pricier to buy.
As I have said before this is where government needs to step in. These high upfront costs are a barrier to adoption so heads need banging together to find solutions which work for consumers. Over their lifetimes heat pumps and electric cars are no more expensive than boilers or patrol cars. So how do you make that work for consumers? It is surely not beyond the wit of even this government.
I have no objection to anyone raising cost as a barrier for individuals going green.
Cost is a problem ministers can solve.
But most of you do not object on the grounds of cost – instead you make false claims about green technology not working. And it isnât true.
Genuinely – even if you have no intention of buying one I urge you to take a test drive in a Tesla. It will blow your mind.
And I donât need people to tell me solar panels donât work. I have had solar panels installed on my last two houses – Iâve actually used them for nearly 15 years – and they absolutely do work. Both for power and hot water. And, yes, I will get solar installed at my current house too in due course.
This is not fake technology. It absolutely all works. You just need to try it.
April 11, 2021
It might well work in exceptional cases but currently 2/3s of the population of the UK live in a terrace house or flat and therefore have zero access to or ability to charge an EV
April 11, 2021
Absolutely, and I’ve only got 3 Minors and a Marina.
April 11, 2021
When you have given up your log burner, stopped using your BBQ, given up your cars, stopped taking flights abroad, turned off all unnecessary electric gadgets like computers TVs and gone off grid, then perhaps others on here might follow your lead.
After you young Andy
April 11, 2021
+1
April 11, 2021
Andy, do you mean sorting your recyclable rubbish to be shipped elsewhere to be burnt?
April 12, 2021
or buried to pollute the water table, and give off methane?
April 11, 2021
I’ve had a stock of candles almost unused for years – might be needed when you and your mates plug the sparky (non-gas) guzzler into the mains.
April 12, 2021
Fred, they might keep you warm too.
April 12, 2021
and all across the country calls will be made to the Fire Service as fires break out, and we are talking house fires, not the ones all over inside 2 minutes when EVs catch fire.
April 11, 2021
There are a lot of targets and promises, but no concrete plan. Where is the report that details how much extra zero-carbon electricity needs to be generated and by what dates? Where is the report that sets out how the grid is to be upgraded to handle the load?
The lack of such reports means the state does not want to know the truth, that the target dates are pie in the sky.
There is going to be absolute outrage in ten years’ time, when people start being told they cannot replace their broken gas boiler, and will have to spend ÂŁ18,000 on a heat pump instead. Also that heat pump will increase their heating costs by c. 30-50% and be ineffective when it is truly cold. This is a real vote winner believe me.
April 11, 2021
All but two nuclear zero carbon power stations in the UK will be closing by 2030. That’s going to be replaced by intermittent offshore wind, which needs 100% backup. No gas stations are planned because they are not economical when wind and solar have priority and carbon tax applies. We will need to increase electricity supply 300%. It’s planned by innumerate green activist civil servants without an electrical engineer in sight and will be s farce.
April 11, 2021
It’s obvious isn’t it Stred. Increase our nuclear capacity, not decrease it.
A reliable national grid that is not reliant on importing from France. Once we have that we are free to produce and export whatever suits US.
Meanwhile, IGNORE THE GLOBAL WARMING SCAM.
April 11, 2021
People seem to think the country runs off electricity. It doesn’t, it runs off gas (and transport runs on oil).
580TWh p.a. of gas used directly, and 270TWh p.a. for electricity generation. Electricity demand is 345TWh p.a. but much of that comes from gas generation. Figures from 2019. There is still the transport fuel to add to this picture.
Zero-carbon electricity currently makes up a rather trivial proportion of UK energy consumption. We are looking at more than 300% increase I am sure.
April 11, 2021
+1
April 11, 2021
JR, how are you feeling about this nightmare?
April 11, 2021
I note ten out of fifty nine posts are by Lifelogic.
Green is one of his hobby horse subjects.
I counted them rather than read them all.
I assume it is his usual rawmaish.
April 11, 2021
Peter
“I note ten out of fifty nine posts are by Lifelogic.”
So ?
April 11, 2021
Peter, L/L is hammering home the nonsensical policies surrounding the Climate Change garbage. Someone clearly needs to.
April 11, 2021
What plans do the liblabcon party have for ensuring sustainable industrial processes which are therefore carbon neutral? For example, the smelting of metallic ores: will these be banned except in China and India or will they be allowed subject to the exclusive use of sustainable charcoal produced by vegans in glades using sustainable wood sources as a reducing agent? The alternative of the use of non-sustainable coke which comes from non-sustainable coal which comes from the earlier petrification of non-sustainable forests clearly produces non-sustainable carbon dioxide as a by-product of ore reduction and will inevitably lead to a non-sustainable increase in global temperatures because although carbon dioxide’s absorbtion spectrum overlaps that of water vapour in the infrared zone where greenhouse gasses trap energy from the Earth and water vapour is a much more potent greenhouse gas that CO2, nevertheless by a magical process understood only by Global Warming theorists, CO2, if left uncontrolled, in those areas of the world where an unholy alliance of banksters and the globalist media control the public discourse, will destroy the planet (including in locations in which the aforementioned do not hold sway).
April 11, 2021
Strange, isn’t it, how we didn’t hear about any of this just before the last GE, in the Tories’ manifesto?
April 11, 2021
L Jones
Yes, how true and it’s because there is a PM in No 10 who sees the whole country is his personal play thing and can do with it as he pleases. He has to go.
April 11, 2021
Stop On
April 11, 2021
Sir David Attenborough is on record as stating that global population has doubled in the last 50 years. A sobering thought indeed.
What country in principle is responsible for this ? Perhaps the very same country that gives us nasty pastic poorly made consumer items, SARS, the latest inflenza strains, Covid – 19 etc, and builds coal mines to store vast amounts of imported coal despite lying that they take climate change seriously.
The planet, it’s recources, and now it’s climate are severely overloaded. Why oh why do we continue to do trade with the culprit ?
Stop trading with them, shut them down and save the planet by reducing the environmental and resource load.
Don’t expect people of a tiny Island of a mere 60M population to pay for the environmental damage of over 1Bn in another country. But Boris can expect a nasty surprise at the next general election.
Stop taking the piss.
April 11, 2021
I googled what does nuclear power come from. The first entry, duke-energy.com, said it comes from splitting uranium atoms. It also said since it does not burn fuel, it does not produce green house gas emissions.
I’d suggest that is Q.E.D. Problem Solved.
Obviously duke-energy is in the business of nuclear power but so what. Plenty of uranium available from Australia.
Our Green Blob Prime Minister, armed with that as a slogan, would still be able to knock elbows with fellow Global Warming Scammers, on the World Stage.
April 11, 2021
IT DOES NOT PRODUCE GREEN HOUSE GAS EMISSIONS. Have you got that Boris? Nuclear Power, no global warming.
April 11, 2021
Agree – its the only long term sensible solution
April 11, 2021
well it ought to buy us decades to really sort out long term needs.
April 11, 2021
The planet will look after itself as it has always done despite all the Green BS that is thrown at us. Wake up people.
April 11, 2021
+ 1 and we are part of its evolution.
To say that we are unnatural is the height of narcissim.
If it hadn’t been us it would have been lizards. Ask Prof Whitty.
April 11, 2021
Correct – you’re describing the past 60 years of âno-changeâ in weather patterns and an ever cleaner environment
April 11, 2021
I am sorry, Sir John, but I am getting the feeling governments do not want to restore our economies: they seem to be quite relaxed about the trashing of same, and only seem to want to virtue signal about their own pet vanity projects, filling their pockets while doing so.
April 11, 2021
Reforestation is must.Genetic modification has enabled a seed which is more likely to take root other than the millions of seeds which are destroyed by a continual drying of land , but unfortunately trees still have to grow and many years are needed for that .
April 11, 2021
Traditional Activities?? we live in the 21st century.
All the major economies are in debt – if you borrow large amounts of money to coin a phrase you own the banks. In fact there are economists who are suggesting this debt should be written off and not repaid. The IMF suggests a wealth tax.
All major economies are promoting the more green agenda for jobs and growth, so may be they cannot all be wrong. So net zero may actually restore economies.
Having experienced first hand the pollution in India, there is a pressure from the younger generation of Indians to change things.
OK some where in the middle there will have to be compromise and a green evolution rather than revolution.
April 11, 2021
We should be using our full diplomatic weight, such as it is, to put maximum pressure on the offending nations. That pressure should take the form of proposing to the WTO that nations running a dirty economy should incur tariffs on their exports. Initially, running a dirty economy would include burning raw coal, both at power stations and domestically, and the manufacture and use of CFCs. We need to explain why global warming is worst at the poles; the fact that the hole in the ozone layer has not been fully closed is part of the explanation.
It will be possible to put maximum pressure on the Biden administration to do the right thing, to back the proposal and to put America’s house in order.
April 11, 2021
”nations running a dirty economy should incur tariffs on their exports”
So all imports from China including solar panels and EV battery materials would cost more…..thats how mad green trading is !
April 11, 2021
David Cameron has said he should have contacted the government âthrough only the most formal of channels” when lobbying for a financial firm. The former prime minister has faced criticism for contacting ministers on behalf of Greensill Capital. In his first statement on the issue, he said he should have left “no room for misinterpretation”. But Mr Cameron reiterated that he had broken no codes of conduct or government rules on lobbying. He added: “However, I have reflected on this at length. There are important lessons to be learnt.”
Thats all right then – carry on, nothing to be seen here…
April 12, 2021
It seems I was wrong with ‘nothing to be seen here’ (quoted a bit tongue in cheek, in case you were wondering) – the Government no less, announced that there was to be a cover up , err sorry – a review covering David Cameron’s efforts to lobby ministers on behalf of finance firm Greensill Capital.
A report to be produced, when?
April 11, 2021
JR
“The green revolution still needs to find the iconic products which people want to buy willingly to speed its pace”
No need. It’s quite simple – just ban things upon which we depend and without our permission, and no, Boris Johnson did not tell us he was going to ban IC engines by 2030. He sneaked that in. Why?……because he’d have lost the election if he was honest about his intentions.
Here’s what you do –
Legislate the crap out anyone who can’t afford one of these useless EV’s and force their pertol & diesel cars off the road. And, to make doubly sure send the price of fuel through the roof and make it unobtainable.
That way you can force people into crippling debt, especially with other aspects of green scam such as ÂŁ10k+ to keep the house warm and get hot water.
We have this government sussed, we know exactly how it’s going to pull off this heist and force the average household into approx ÂŁ50k debt.
There’s going to be one hell of a fight over Johnson’s green scam, and it’s going to be one the conservative party will not survive.
We don’t believe what we’re being told and we don’t trust those peddling the BS.
April 11, 2021
Steve, sustinctly and clearly said.
April 12, 2021
Is it not possible to have public transport FREE for a period of time until a new method of producing the right power propulsion is designed/made, then would there not be a huge reduction in people using private transport and inflicting environmental damage.
April 13, 2021
An already old post france24.com (09/11/2017) would have given the list of the 15 French towns with a free public transport system at the end of 2017. Since then it appears that the trend has continued and by end of 2020 35 towns had free public transport (cidj.com 06/10/2020 âTransports en commun gratuits: Quelles sont les villes concernees?â)
Anne Hidalgo, the present Paris mayor is pushing for a far cheaper possibly a free public transport system over the Grand Paris (P and suburbs) as part of her reelection campaign to âla mairie de Parisâ. It really makes sense when combined with all the restrictions to car traffic that Paris has seen introduced over the last five years, because of the recurrent summer peaks of pollution.