5 October 2024

From the director

To our readers and all of our generous donors

It has been another bad week for the Net Zero crusade, with industrial carnage in the UK and Germany. The Labour government have been beset by sleaze allegations, and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has been caught in the middle of it all. The right-wing media have been having a field day, and observers have enjoyed the fact that the government seem to have found themselves in an intense crossfire, with fire also coming from their their erstwhile allies in the trades unions, now outraged by Mr Miliband’s cavalier approach to jobs. This may well end badly.

The Conservatives have, to some extent, missed a trick here, being still engrossed in their leadership election. Three of the four candidates have been pushing sceptical lines on climate and energy to one degree or another, but while only James Cleverley spoke up for greenery, it is hard to avoid the impression that the party is going to struggle to unite on this issue. Environmentalism remains a powerful strand of opinion amongst the members and party establishment.

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

• Keep it in the (Miliband) family

• Self-denial on the energy front

• More union pressure for Labour

• Closed for business

• Financial bonanza for failed technology

• Conservatives talk climate

Decarbonisation

• Falklands go for oil

• Major EV recalls

• German industrial freefall

• Climate sceptics win in Austria

• Can the US grid cope?

Etcetera

• Media appearances

• On the cost of floating offshore wind

• On the foolishness of greens

• On hurricanes

From the blog

• Gridscale batteries could cause havoc in urban areas

UK

Keep it in the (Miliband) family

It was discovered that one of the major beneficiaries of Ed Miliband’s apparently mad climate climate policies is likely to be his brother David, who has interests in gridscale batteries.

Self-denial on the energy front

A Yougov survey found that almost half of British adults will ration their energy use this winter.

More union pressure for Labour

The Starmer administration came under more pressure from the trades unions, who fear that Mr Miliband’s crusade will cause vast job losses. The GMB union launched a petition.

Closed for business

Port Talbot steelworks closed, as did the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station. We could ask the last person to leave the country to switch the lights out when they go, but Mr Miliband may have arranged for that to happen already – an EDF director warned that his policies are likely to lead to blackouts.

Financial bonanza for failed technology

The Government announced an astonishing £22 billion for carbon capture, a set of technologies best known for economic failure. On the same day, ExxonMobil announced the cancellation of a CO2 pipeline project on the Isle of Wight.

Conservatives talk climate

Climate and energy was a hot topic at the Conservative Party conference. Leadership candidate Tom Tugendhat – not previously noted for sceptic views – said he didn’t think there was a climate emergency. According to Politico’s correspondent, Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick made energy-realist noises, while James Cleverley made a bid for the green vote.

Decarbonisation

Falklands go for oil

The Falkland Islands risked Ed Miliband’s ire by giving the go-ahead to a vast oilfield, noting that the decision was a devolved matter.

Major EV recalls

Chinese EV manufacturer BYD recalled 100,000 vehicles because of a fire risk. In America, 200,000 Jeeps were recalled for the same reason.

German industrial freefall

The German industrial sector appears to be in freefall. Motor manufacturers held a crisis meeting with economy minister Robert Habeck, as sales plunge as a result of customer discontent with EVs and fierce competition from the Chinese.

Climate sceptics win in Austria

The climate-sceptic Freedom Party won the Austrian general election. Establishment parties are now trying to work out how to exclude its leader Herbert Kickl from power.

Can the US grid cope?

Questions are starting to be raised about whether the creaking US electricity grid can cope with surging demand from the Artificial Intelligence industry.

Etcetera

Media appearances

Harry Wilkinson was on GB News, talking about the cost of Net Zero and the implications for union jobs, and also on Talk, discussing LTNs.

NZW chairman Neil Record discussed Net Zero on a panel at the Conservative Conference, organised by the Centre for Policy Studies.

John Constable was in The Critic, considering the role of groupthink in the Green Blob.

On the cost of floating offshore wind

Social media readers were stunned by the news that the UK’s latest floating offshore windfarm had managed to lose £30 million, despite enjoying £31 of subsidies. It had only managed to sell £12 million of electricity.

On the foolishness of greens

Blogger Eugyppius told the amusing story of how the German state of Schleswig-Holstein decided to replace a perfectly functional ferry with a new battery-powered model, and how it all went wrong.

On hurricanes

A hurricane made landfall in the USA. Electric vehicles reacted badly to the salt water. Andrew was in Spiked, discussing the decidedly unalarming trends in the hurricane data.

From the blog

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