14 September 2024

From the director

To our readers and all of our generous donors

Last year’s report from the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee on the subject of electricity storage was nothing if not enthusiastic on the subject of hydrogen, calling for public support for the technology. So the revelation that the committee’s chairman, Baroness Brown, is a paid director of a hydrogen company has been something of a blow to its credibility and the credibility of Parliament as a whole.

A further revelation this week - that the new chairman of the Commons’ Energy and Climate Change Select Committee has a parallel role as the chairman of the Association of Distributed Energy - has done nothing to diminish those concerns.

This is not new of course. Who can forget the constant stream of revelations about the conflicting business interests of Lord Deben, while chairman of the Climate Change Committee?

The sense that Parliament has become a swamp to rival Washington DC is hard to avoid. The concerns over Lord Deben were buried by the political establishment. It is important that we do not allow that to happen again.

Wishing you all the very best weekend.

Andrew

As always, please don’t reply to this email address, which is not monitored.

The headlines

UK

• Parliamentary conflicts of interest

• Grangemouth closure confirmed

• Missed targets mean more subsidy

• Unions pluck up courage

• Who knew?

• Nuclear retreat?

Decarbonisation

• Fiat joins the EV exodus

• Battery research funding to end

• Renewables and reliance on overseas energy

Etcetera

• JRM on Net Zero

• Does greenery lead to fire deaths?

• Hughes on electricity grid chaos

• Media appearances

From the blog

• 2024 hurricane season: the worst climate prediction ever?

• Unions count the cost of green deindustrialisation

UK

Parliamentary conflicts of interest

Baroness Brown, the chairman of the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee, was revealed to be a director of a hydrogen company. Her committee recently produced a report advocating for a rapid deployment of hydrogen for the energy system.

In related news, the newly installed chairman of the Commons Energy Select Committee turns out to also be the chairman of the Association of Distributed Energy.

Grangemouth closure confirmed

The closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery was confirmed. Politicians who had campaigned to shut down the oil and gas industry, including Ed Miliband, said – somewhat unconvincingly – that they were very upset.

A £250 million subsidy package was announced for the Port Talbot steelworks to allow the proposed new arc furnace to make

Missed targets mean more subsidy

The National Farmer’s Union said that the sector would miss its ambitious green targets, and said that it needed more subsidies to get things back on track.

Unions pluck up courage

The TUC narrowly voted to oppose the Government’s ban on new North Sea oil and gas licences. Union leaders have been prominent in their reticence on the issue.

Who knew?

It was revealed that Labour’s own research suggested that withdrawing the Winter Fuel Allowance would cause 4000 premature deaths.

Nuclear retreat?

Ed Miliband is said to be considering cancelling the proposed new nuclear power station at Wylfa in Wales.

Decarbonisation

Fiat joins the EV exodus

Italy warned that the EU motor manufacturing industry faces collapse, and called for Brussels to drop the ban on petrol and diesel cars. As if to emphasise the point, Carmarker Stellantis announced a halt to production of the Fiat 500 EV, joining a mass exodus of manufacturers from the sector.

Battery research funding to end

Germany announced that it will stop funding new battery research projects, as belts are tightened in Berlin.

Renewables and reliance on overseas energy

In a new report for GWPF, energy analyst Kathryn Porter explains how reliance on renewables creates a reliance on energy imports for when the wind isn’t blowing.

Etcetera

JRM on Net Zero

Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg accused the government of sacrificing jobs on the altar of Net Zero.

Does greenery lead to fire deaths

In the wake of the Grenfell report, urban design site The Developer asked if we are ignoring fire risks to hit climate targets.

Hughes on electricity grid chaos

Professor Gordon Hughes penned an interesting piece on constraint payments and the intriguing financial interests of those involved in the UK grid.

Media appearances

• Andrew was on Lembit Opik’s TNT Radio show, talking about all things Net Zero (from 19 minutes).

• Andrea Jenkyns was on the Jeremy Vine show talking about the winter fuel allowance.

From the blog

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