{"id":305403,"date":"2024-02-29T19:51:13","date_gmt":"2024-02-29T18:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=305403"},"modified":"2024-02-29T19:51:16","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T18:51:16","slug":"how-collapsing-energy-use-reveals-britains-economic-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=305403","title":{"rendered":"How collapsing energy use reveals Britain\u2019s economic disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dwindling domestic consumption plunges the UK back into the dark years of the 1970s.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doomsayers warn that Britain is returning to the bad old days of the 1970s \u2013 yet by one measure, we are already there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country\u2019s energy usage has tumbled to its lowest level since the era of Edward Heath\u2019s three day week, official figures show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, excluding the 2020 Covid lockdown, the country used less energy than in any year since at least 1970. This figure includes energy generated from all sources including coal, gas and renewables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Government puts the decline down to \u201ca variety of reasons, including unseasonably warm weather and continued improvements in energy efficiency\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials add that energy usage is expected to decline because of net zero \u201cas we transition to a more efficient use of energy through electrification\u201d. The Telegraph<\/a> has the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet experts argue the numbers tell a story of economic decline rather than energy efficiency improvements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cElectricity consumption isn\u2019t an independent variable. It is linked to the fact that we\u2019re not equipping ourselves to maintain our living standards,\u201d says Gordon Hughes, a former senior adviser to the World Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hughes, who is also a former professor of economics at the University of Edinburgh, believes Britain\u2019s economy is in a similar state to the dark years of the 1970s<\/a> when dysfunction forced the country into an IMF bailout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Domestic capacity is winnowing away and the country is increasingly reliant on infusions of foreign cash. Energy use is falling as factories and businesses close and as families become poorer, not because of efficiency benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Britain used enough energy to power 155 million homes for a year in 2005. By 2022, the equivalent figure had fallen to 128 million \u2013 a slump of 17pc in less than 20 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historically, there has been a strong correlation between higher energy consumption and faster economic growth, says Ben McWilliams, an affiliate fellow at Bruegel, a Brussels-based think tank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat goes back to the industrial revolution,\u201d says McWilliams. \u201cEver since then, you typically see there\u2019s an association between high energy consumption and higher GDP.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The link will eventually break as energy efficiency improves. But this is not what is happening now, he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were some exceptional circumstances in 2022 that should be taken into account. Massive jumps in energy prices following Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine reduced usage as people and businesses could simply not afford as much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warm weather also meant there was less demand for heating or electricity-sapping indoor entertainment activities such as watching TV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Domestic energy consumption<\/a> fell by 14pc year-on-year to hit a record low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the record forms part of a longer-term trend. Energy use peaked in the UK just before the financial crisis and has been in decline ever since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, falling energy consumption has mirrored snail-like productivity growth and economic growth.<\/a> The UK\u2019s GDP per capita has never recovered and is still 8pc below where it was in 2007, according to the World Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDeclining energy consumption is definitely not on the back of efficiency,\u201d says Jorge Le\u00f3n, who leads oil market research at Rystad Energy. \u201cDefinitely not.\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":"

Doomsayers warn that Britain is returning to the bad old days of the 1970s \u2013 yet by one measure, we are already there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":305407,"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":"Doomsayers warn that Britain is returning to the bad old days of the 1970s \u2013 yet by one measure, we are already there.","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":[691818902,691827310,691818154,691819094],"class_list":{"0":"post-305403","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-energy-efficiency","10":"tag-net-zero","11":"tag-renewable-green-energy","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/0trade-war-news-market-crash.webp?fit=1280%2C671&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1hrR","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":207783,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=207783","url_meta":{"origin":305403,"position":0},"title":"European energy crisis: \u201cThe worst winter we\u2019ve seen since the 1970s\u201d","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"09\/07\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Freezing cold man standing in a snowstorm blizzard trying to keep warm. 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