Rishi’s rush to Net Zero - Part II - Electricity

The breathtaking fall in traditional UK electricity generation

Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2024

Facts4EU.Org looks at the risks involved in this plunge into total reliance on renewables to keep the lights on

In Part I yesterday (Easter Monday, 2024) we showed how there has been no let-up in Rishi Sunak’s rush to Net Zero. Despite Govt claims, UK is still hurtling to Net Zero faster than any country in the world. In Part II today we delve further into the figures and reveal the simply jaw-dropping fall in UK greenhouse gas emissions for generating electricity. The fall from 1990 to 2023 has been an astonishing 78.4%.

This in turn begs the question of just how secure our supply of electricity will be and whether the lights will be able to stay on when renewables simply can't produce enough power.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

UK greenhouse gas emissions for electricity production, 1990-2023

© Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2024 - click to enlarge

[Source : UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, 28 Mar 2024.]

Comparisons with the EU and the world

As with the data in Part I, in order to make comparisons with the EU27 and the entire world, we have to turn to data from OWID (Oxford University) which runs from 1990 to 2021, rather than the the UK Government's more up-to-date data from 1990 to 2023.

And just as in Part I, in order to take out distortions from countries with large populations, we are showing per capita results to provide a more balanced view.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

EU and world greenhouse gas emissions for electricity production, 1990-2021

PER CAPITA - Adjusted for population size

  • UK : -77%
  • EU27 : -34%
  • World : -3%

© Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2024 - click to enlarge

[Sources : OWID (Oxford University | ONS population data | Dept for Energy Security and Net Zero, 28 Mar 2024.]

As can be seen, the UK's plunge has been considerably in excess of those achieved by the EU27 or by the entire world. Some may welcome this, but in our ‘Observations’ below we raise some important questions about this.

Observations

None of us - apart from a tiny number of extreme eco-warriors - can imagine a world where we don't take the constant availability of reliable electricity for granted. Older readers will remember the 1970s when we had a three-day week and when electricity was rationed to certain periods during the day. One of the Facts4EU.Org team recalls having to do his homework by candlelight. This is not a world which anyone would want to go back to.

The plunge in the production of electricity generated by what might be called conventional means raises some serious questions.

The questions are these :-

  • How is it possible to reduce our traditional way of generating electricity by so much, so quickly, without risking blackouts?
  • Are some of the reliable experts right when they say we will not have a sufficient amount of electricity generated from renewables by 2035?
  • What happens if the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow?
  • What happens if foreign suppliers of electricity by undersea cables simply cut off our supply because of their own needs?
  • By how much are our electricity bills going to rise even further than they already have?
  • Exactly how much has the replacement of traditional electricity production cost us so far, and how much more will it cost?
  • Finally, with the percentage dropping by another 5% in 2023, what happened to Mr Sunak's promise to slow down?

To those questions we remind readers of the additional questions we asked in Part I

  • When did we ever vote to have a single issue dominate our lives in such a way?
  • Who decided all of this?
  • Where is the cost benefit analysis promised by the Government?
  • Just how much is all this costing us already and by how much will it increase further?
  • How indebted will we, our children, and our grandchildren be as a result of the rush to Net Zero?
  • What about the greenhouse emissions from all the energy and products we now import?
  • Have we simply exported our carbon emissions to other countries around the globe with less scruples?
  • Finally, why is the UK, a tiny emitter of greenhouse gases, in the vanguard of the world when it will make almost no difference to the planet what we do?

We are not experts in the climate change debate – our focus has mainly been on what the EU is NOT doing, but we have a healthy concern that the UK - previously energy self-sufficient – will soon find itself unable to provide basic energy sources for electricity generation and other energy needs.

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[ Sources: OWID (Oxford University | ONS population data | Dept for Energy Security and Net Zero ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Tues 02 Apr 2024

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