The Staggering £7.6 Trillion Price Tag of Britain’s Net Zero Ambition

Hornsea Offshore Wind Project, Yorkshire, England
[image credit: nsenergybusiness.com]

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The first question must be: where can that kind of money come from? We’re already running short of coastline that doesn’t feature wind turbines in the sea views, and the government has a policy of converting a percentage of farmland and other countryside to solar power sites. As pointed out here, increased CO2 elsewhere from industrial development, data centres and so on more than cancels out any imagined gains from net zero policies anyway.
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Net zero is set to cost the UK economy billions of pounds more than public officials estimate, a new report has suggested, raising questions over the supposed savings to be made from the energy transition for households and businesses.

A new paper published by the Institute of Economic Affairs, a free market think tank, has raised questions about cost estimates shared by the Climate Change Commission, an independent public body that provides advice on net zero policy to ministers, says City A.M. (via OilPrice.com).

Energy analyst David Turver said the cash costs in the years to 2050 could hit a staggering £7.6 trillion, presenting a challenge to the government and private sector companies looking to provide alternatives to fossil fuels.

The cost estimate is taken from analysis of National Energy System Operator (NESO) data as well as independent research around contract valuations, market pricing and sector-specific issues such as in transport.

This compares to a cumulative £108bn cost estimate made by the CCC, or around £4bn a year. This figure accounts for wider savings in operating costs that offset capital investments in areas such as wind and solar farms as well as new heat pumps, though the total was a significant downgrade from a previous estimate of more than £1 trillion.

The CCC also said the private sector can “provide the majority of the required investment” with the “right incentives” while the additional costs of not transitioning could be higher.
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Commenting on the report, industrialist Sir Jim Ratcliffe, chairman and founder of INEOS, said:

Decarbonising Europe by deindustrialisation is idiotic. We lose jobs and security, and the CO2 simply floats back over Europe anyway.

“The solution is to ban carbon tax, provide competitive energy for industry and incentivise growth and clean technology. This is the US approach, where they value industry and its high value employment and they are leaving Europe behind in their dust.”

Full article here.
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Image: Hornsea 1 Offshore Wind Project, Yorkshire, England [credit: nsenergybusiness.com]