Four major national institutions have made erroneous estimates of the cost of Net Zero

London, 24 January. Campaign group Net Zero Watch has revealed that four major UK institutions have produced erroneous estimates of the cost of decarbonising the economy.

Last weekend, the Sunday Telegraph revealed that the Committee on Climate Change had seriously underestimated the amount of electricity storage required for Net Zero, because it had not considered the possibility of back-to-back years with low wind.

The CCC’s failing was highlighted by Sir Christopher Llewellyn Smith, the leader of a Royal Society study into the Net Zero energy system.

But it can now be revealed that the same error has been made by the National Infrastructure Commission and National Grid ESO.

Net Zero Watch director Andrew Montford notes:

Sir Christopher Llewellyn Smith has highlighted the deficiency in the models of the Climate Change Committee and the National Infrastructure Commission, and National Grid ESO have confirmed to me in writing that their models contain the same mistake.

But Mr Montford also notes that Sir Christopher has also publicly admitted that the Royal Society’s own models contain a similar deficiency. He said:

We have four well-funded national institutions, all of which have failed to model the 2050 energy system correctly, and all of them in ways that understate the cost of Net Zero. It’s a remarkable coincidence.

Notes for editors

Further details of the failings of the models can be seen in a recent Net Zero watch article.

Net Zero Watch will shortly publish a cost estimate that corrects these errors and shows the alarming effect on consumer bills.