Net Zero Watch press release 11 October 2024 Miliband’s multiple spending sprees The headlines UK Spend and be damned Please sir, can I have some more (subsidy) Huge bills for Scots to decarbonise hou

Net Zero Watch press release

11 October 2024

Miliband’s multiple spending sprees

The headlines

UK

  • Spend and be damned

  • Please sir, can I have some more (subsidy)

  • Huge bills for Scots to decarbonise housing

  • Good dictator, bad dictator

  • Green steel plans delayed

Decarbonisation

  • Back to petroleum

  • Battery car mayhem

  • Olive oil recovery

  • Ireland may miss out on the AI revolution

Etcetera

  • Could AI make climate information even worse?

  • Damp squib hurricane

  • Damp harvest

  • The Ethics of Decarbonisation for the Poor

  • In the media

UK

Spend and be damned

Ed Miliband committed to spending an extraordinary £22 billion on carbon capture, a strange decision given that the technology has only ever been made to work with coal-fired power stations, of which the UK no longer has any. In Parliament, Reform UK’s Richard Tice asked whether this was going to be paid for through a levy on bills or through general taxation. He didn’t get an answer. Further billions were announced for energy storage. Mr Miliband would have us believe that all this largesse will reduce bills. Nobody laughed.

Please sir, can I have some more (subsidy)

The Confederation of British Industry called for more green subsidies - for electric car, heat pump, and biofuel manufacturers - thus simultaneous confirming their position as the voice of the crony capitalist and that none of these products are economically competitive.

Huge bills for Scots to decarbonise housing

The Scottish Government admitted that it had previously underestimated the cost of decarbonising housing by as much as a third. They now think the bill could be as much as £18,000 per household. The situation appears little better in England.

Net Zero and the fishing fleet finale

Scottish trawlermen said that they could not coexist with floating offshore windfarms. Fishing therefore appears to be another industry that will be sacrificed to Gaia.

Good dictator, bad dictator

It was reported that the Government is looking to import biomass fuel for power stations from North Korea and Afghanistan. It has previously criticised the UK’s alleged reliance on dictators for our energy supplies.

Green steel plans delayed

Within days of the closure of the Port Talbot blast furnace, it was announced that its conversion to electric arc furnaces couldn’t take place any time soon because of a lack of electrical power supply.

Decarbonisation

Back to petroleum

The only thing renewable at BP appears to be its commitment to fossil fuels, with green targets being dropped like hot coals. Back to Petroleum. The Times, uncharacteristically, published a supportive leader column.

Battery car mayhem

EVs lost market share in the UK, and the motor manufacturing industry suggested it could be decimated by Net Zero plans. Toyota delayed its EV plans in America, and the Italian government expressed concern over Fiat’s sales slump.

Olive oil recovery

The Mediterreanean olive harvest is set to be very successful, perhaps surprising for an industry that was said last year to be a victim of climate change.

Ireland may miss out on the AI revolution

Ireland fears that the weakness of its energy system will lead to it missing out new artificial intelligence businesses. This is surely true of all of the EU.

Etcetera

Could AI make climate information even worse?

The volume of nonsense published about the climate by the Green Blob is extraordinary. But since large language models, which power artificial intelligence systems, harvest such “information” uncritically, it is possible that AI will simply make things worse.

Damp squib hurricane

Green activists were disappointed when Hurricane Milton failed to live up to its billing, making landfall at only Category 3. It was pointed out that hurricane landfalls seem to be anticorrelated with ocean temperatures.

Damp harvest

The UK’s wheat harvest was down sharply. According to the Guardian, this was down to (surprise, surprise!) climate change. Unfortunately, the data shows a long-term increase in yields.

The Ethics of Decarbonisation for the Poor

Our friends at GWPF published a new paper looking at the ethics (or lack of them) in seeking decarbonisation for the poor.

In the media

Kathryn Porter explained all the ways that the energy “transition” is putting your bills up.

Andrew was on Talk, discussing the general theme of green rip offs. He was also mentioned in the Sun, in an article about green waste, and in particular the story that the taxpayer is funding a project investigating the effect of Star Wars on climate change.

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