Net Zero Watch says Labour and Policy Exchange have been tricked

Net Zero Watch says that the Labour Party and the Conservative thinktank Policy Exchange have both been taken in by misleading information issued by the energy analysts Aurora.

Aurora performed the modelling behind a 2024 Policy Exchange paper on decarbonising the grid. It was cited last week by Claire Coutinho, who noted its conclusion that Labour’s 2030 timetable for Net Zero was unachievable. It was also cited by Ed Miliband, who pointed to its conclusion that Labour’s decarbonisation plans would deliver cost savings to consumers.

However, energy writer David Turver has now shown that Aurora’s financial assumptions bear little resemblance to reality. Mr Turver said:

Aurora are assuming costs for renewables that are a fraction of what we know apply in reality. They have also left out the costs of grid upgrades, hydrogen storage and carbon capture. There are hundreds of billions of pounds missing from their analysis. The cost savings they claim are completely spurious.

Net Zero Watch director Andrew Montford said:

It’s sad to see an influential think tank like Policy Exchange publishing such risible nonsense, but it’s always a risk when taking numbers directly from the green lobby.

And Mr Montford called for politicians to come clean about the costs of Net Zero.

Last year, Mr Sunak said the public needed to be told the truth about the costs of Net Zero. But he, Keir Starmer, Claire Coutinho and Ed Miliband are still bandying about figures that are no better than fantasy.