{"id":305231,"date":"2024-02-28T12:42:12","date_gmt":"2024-02-28T11:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=305231"},"modified":"2024-02-28T12:42:14","modified_gmt":"2024-02-28T11:42:14","slug":"hitting-net-zero-by-2050-requires-a-crucial-reinvention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=305231","title":{"rendered":"Hitting net zero by 2050 requires a crucial reinvention"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reports of lower energy bills have been greatly exaggerated.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From April, households using an average amount of energy will face an annual bill of \u00a31,690 for their combined gas and electricity \u2013 down from \u00a31,928 between January and March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ofgem\u2019s decision to\u00a0lower the household energy price cap<\/a>\u00a0by 12pc means a saving of \u00a3238 a year for the typical household. But given that the price cap is set on a quarterly basis, with this newly announced level in place until the end of June, it makes more sense to think of an average saving of around \u00a320 a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Telegraph<\/a> has the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while gas and electricity bills will fall for around 29m households from the start of April, the actual amount you pay still depends on how much you use, as the cap is on unit rates, not on your total bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For all the positive headlines, though, electricity costs in the UK remain extremely high<\/a> by international standards \u2013 bad news not only for households, but also for British manufacturers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bills are also way above where they were before Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago, causing turmoil on global energy markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During January, domestic end-user electricity prices averaged 29.08 c\u20ac\/kWh (euro cents per kilowatt hour) in France and just 22.04 c\u20ac\/kWh in Spain. In the UK, the average was up at 40.73 c\u20ac\/kWh \u2013 some 62pc above the European Union average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the US, while there is variation from state to state, average domestic electricity prices were the equivalent of just 16.27 c\u20ac\/kWh last month. This at least partly reflects America\u2019s success in transforming itself from a major importer to a major exporter of energy, a change driven by the impact of the fracking revolution<\/a> on US oil and gas industry output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in 2020, the last full year before signs of escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine started spooking global energy markets, UK electricity prices averaged around 27.15 c\u20ac\/kWh \u2013 a third lower than now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lingering high energy costs are a major reason why UK inflation remains at 4pc, double the Bank of England\u2019s target. The comparable figures in the US and eurozone are 3.1pc and 2.8pc respectively, reflecting much lower electricity costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One reason UK electricity is so expensive is that wholesale energy costs \u2013 which have fallen sharply since the height of the Russia-Ukraine conflict \u2013 make up just half of the average household gas and electricity bill. Along with VAT at 5pc, and energy companies\u2019 (relatively modest) profit margins, UK customers also pay hefty \u201cpolicy costs\u201d and even larger \u201cnetwork costs\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPolicy costs\u201d, according to Ofgem, are \u201clevies that support low carbon generation, energy efficiency and vulnerable customers\u201d. \u201cNetwork costs\u201d, meanwhile, reflect further subsidies to the renewables industry which, in turn, reflect the UK\u2019s \u201cmarginal-cost electricity-pricing model\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over recent years, wind, solar and other renewables have generated around two fifths of the UK\u2019s electricity \u2013 roughly the same as gas-fired power stations. Coal is now used to generate only around 2pc of our electricity, down from 35pc just 20 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But \u201ccheap\u201d renewables, far from cutting consumer energy bills, are pushing prices up<\/a>. That\u2019s because renewables still depend heavily on subsidies to get the wind turbines built and the solar panels up and running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UK\u2019s now renewable-heavy energy mix also needs to have a large fleet of gas-fired power stations on standby \u2013 so they are there, ready to be fired up on days when the wind isn\u2019t blowing and the sun doesn\u2019t shine. The alternative is that the lights go out \u2013 with all the economic and societal chaos that would involve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such \u201cintermittent\u201d periods can last weeks in the UK, especially during winter, when energy demand is high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But having gas-fired stations on standby to facilitate the more extensive use of renewables is hugely expensive \u2013 as the sky-high fixed costs of being able to produce energy at short notice are spread across much smaller revenues, given that the gas-fired stations in question are, for long-periods, standing idle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even on days when it is sunny and windy, UK electricity prices are driven by the marginal cost of generation \u2013 that is, the spot price of gas. And the shift to renewables is significantly inflating this marginal cost, pushing up household bills too \u2013 whatever we\u2019re told about \u201clow cost\u201d renewable energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now, renewable companies make serious money from the very intermittency problems they\u2019re meant to be solving. The government meanwhile takes a big slice \u2013 via a low-key but hefty renewable windfall tax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As such, the operation of our renewable-heavy electricity market has seriously aggravated the cost of living crisis. Yet rather than reforming this pricing system, easing household bills, the government raids renewable profits \u2013 an ever-increasing household energy \u201cstealth tax\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the full story here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yet rather than reforming this pricing system, easing household bills, the government raids renewable profits \u2013 an ever-increasing household energy \u201cstealth tax\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":305234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Yet rather than reforming this pricing system, easing household bills, the government raids renewable profits \u2013 an ever-increasing household energy \u201cstealth tax\u201d.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691827271,691827269,691827270,691819094,691826028],"class_list":{"0":"post-305231","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-2050-target","9":"tag-gas-and-electricity-bills","10":"tag-low-carbon-generation","11":"tag-renewable-green-energy","12":"tag-russia-ukraine-conflict","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/0Kenya-hybrid-energy-project.jpg?fit=2461%2C1218&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1hp5","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":270571,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=270571","url_meta":{"origin":305231,"position":0},"title":"Renewable energy isn\u2019t as cheap as advertised \u2013 so\u00a0far","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"31\/07\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"These are vast costs and, as long as \u201cNet Zero 2050\u201d remains in place, the process of spreading them around will become increasingly politically contentious. Any government wanting support for such targets to be maintained should start by finding a way to ensure renewables start delivering much cheaper energy bills.","rel":"","context":"In \"Energy Costs\"","block_context":{"text":"Energy Costs","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=energy-costs"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0renewable-energy.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0renewable-energy.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0renewable-energy.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0renewable-energy.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0renewable-energy.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":217689,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=217689","url_meta":{"origin":305231,"position":1},"title":"Liz Truss To Cap the Wholesale Price of\u00a0Gas","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/09\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT By Paul Homewood Via Net Zero Watch: Liz Truss has taken office as Britain\u2019s new prime minister and will on Tuesday finalise a \u00a3100bn package to address the UK\u2019s energy crisis by capping the cost of gas to bring down bills for\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-348.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-348.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-348.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-348.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":428311,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=428311","url_meta":{"origin":305231,"position":2},"title":"Government Claims Cost of Electricity is Falling. 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