{"id":325518,"date":"2024-05-02T13:56:43","date_gmt":"2024-05-02T11:56:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=325518"},"modified":"2024-05-02T13:56:46","modified_gmt":"2024-05-02T11:56:46","slug":"the-case-against-net-zero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=325518","title":{"rendered":"The Case Against Net Zero"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

From The Daily Sceptic<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BY\u00a0ROBIN GUENIER<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In October 2008, Parliament passed the Climate Change Act requiring the U.K. Government to ensure that by 2050 \u201cthe net U.K. carbon account\u201d was reduced to a level at least 80% lower than that of 1990. (\u201cCarbon account\u2019 refers to CO2<\/sub> emissions and \u201cother targeted greenhouse gas emissions\u201d.) Only five MPs voted against it. Then in 2019, by secondary legislation and without serious debate, Parliament increased the 80% reduction requirement to 100% \u2013 thereby creating the Net Zero policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, it\u2019s a policy that\u2019s unachievable, disastrous and in any case pointless \u2013 and, importantly, that\u2019s the case even if you accept that human carbon dioxide emissions are contributing to a rise in global temperature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. It\u2019s unachievable.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many vehicles and machines (used for example in mining, mineral processing, agriculture, construction, heavy transportation, commercial shipping and aviation, the military and emergency services) and products (for example concrete, steel, plastics \u2013 all needed for the construction of renewables \u2013 fertilisers, pharmaceuticals, anaesthetics, lubricants, solvents, paints, adhesives, insecticides, insulation, tyres and asphalt) essential to life and wellbeing require the combustion of fossil fuels<\/a> or are made from oil derivatives. There are no easily deployable, commercially viable alternatives. Our civilisation is based on fossil fuels, something that\u2019s unlikely to change for a long time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wind is the most effective source of renewable <\/em>electricity in the U.K., but: (i) the substantial costs<\/a> of building the huge numbers of turbines needed for Net Zero; (ii) the complex engineering and cost challenges of establishing a stable, reliable non-fossil fuel grid by 2035 (2030 for Labour) \u2013 not least the need to cope with a vast increase in high voltage grid capacity and local distribution; (iii) the enormous scale of what\u2019s involved (immense amounts of space and of increasingly unavailable and expensive raw materials, such as so-called \u2018rare earths\u2019, required because, unlike fossil fuels, the \u2018energy density\u2019 of wind is so low); and (iv) the intermittency of renewable energy (see point 2 below), make it most unlikely<\/a> that the U.K. will be able to generate sufficient electricity for current needs let alone for the mandated EVs and heat pumps plus industry\u2019s requirements and other demands such as huge data centres the predicted growth of AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In any case, the UK doesn\u2019t have enough<\/a> skilled technical managers, electrical and other engineers, electricians, plumbers, welders, mechanics and other tradespeople (probably about a million are needed) to do the multitude of tasks essential to achieve Net Zero \u2013 a problem worsened by political demands for massively increased house building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Net Zero\u2019 means that there has to be a balance between the amount of any greenhouse gas emissions produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere. However there\u2019s no detailed, costed (or indeed any) plan for such removal, thereby invalidating the entire project<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. It would be socially and economically<\/strong> disastrous<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither of the main political parties\u2019 all-renewable energy project includes a fully costed engineering plan<\/a> for the provision of comprehensive grid-scale back-up when there\u2019s little or no wind or sun, a problem that\u2019s exacerbated by the pending retirement of fossil fuel and nuclear power plants. Both parties are now talking<\/a> of building new gas-fired power plants \u2013 thereby undermining Net Zero \u2013 but they\u2019ve not published any detail and, in any case, intend it seems to fit them with carbon capture and underground storage systems \u2013 an unproven, wasteful and expensive technology that hasn\u2019t been shown to be viable on a national scale<\/a>. This issue is desperately important: without full back-up, electricity blackouts would be inevitable \u2013 ruining many businesses and causing dreadful problems for millions of people, including health consequences threatening everyone and in particular the poor and vulnerable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even more serious is the fact that, because there\u2019s no coherent plan for the project\u2019s delivery, little attention has been given to its overall cost. All that\u2019s clear is that it would almost certainly be completely unaffordable: for example, a recent National Infrastructure Commission projection of \u00a31.3 trillion is probably far too low \u2013 estimates in excess of \u00a33 trillion seem likely to be more accurate<\/a>. The borrowing and taxes required for costs at this scale would destroy Britain\u2019s credit standing and put an impossible burden onto millions of households and businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Net Zero would have two other dire consequences:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. As China essentially controls the supply of key materials (for example, lithium, cobalt, aluminium, processed graphite and so-called rare earths) without which renewables cannot be manufactured, the U.K. would greatly increase its already damaging dependence on it, putting its energy and overall security at\u00a0most serious risk<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. The extensive mining and mineral processing operations required for renewables are already causing appalling environmental damage and\u00a0dreadful human suffering<\/a>\u00a0throughout the world, affecting in particular fragile, unspoilt ecosystems and many of the world\u2019s poorest and most vulnerable people; the continued pursuit of Net Zero would make all this far worse.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    3. In any case it\u2019s pointless<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For two reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. It\u2019s absurd to regard the closure of greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting plants in the U.K. and their \u2018export\u2019 mainly to SE Asian countries, commonly with poor environmental regulation and often powered by coal-fired electricity, as a positive step towards Net Zero. Yet efforts to \u2018decarbonise\u2019 the U.K. mean that\u2019s what\u2019s happening.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Most major non-Western countries \u2013 the source of over 75% of GHG\u00a0emissions and home to 84% of humanity \u2013 don\u2019t regard emission reduction as a priority and, either exempt from (by international agreement) or ignoring any obligation to reduce their emissions, are focused instead on economic and social development, poverty eradication and energy security. As a result, global emissions are increasing (by 62% since 1990) and are set to continue to increase for the foreseeable future. The U.K. is the source of less than 1% of global emissions \u2013 so any further emission reduction it may achieve\u00a0cannot have any impact on the global position<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      In other words, the Net Zero policy means the UK is legally obliged to pursue an unachievable, disastrous and pointless policy \u2013 a policy that could result in Britain\u2019s economic destruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Robin Guenier is a retired writer, speaker and business consultant. He was for 20 years Chief Executive of various high-tech companies and advised the Government on communications technology. An earlier version of this article was first published on Cliscep<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

      In October 2008, Parliament passed the Climate Change Act requiring the U.K. Government to ensure that by 2050 \u201cthe net U.K. carbon account\u201d was reduced to a level at least 80% lower than that of 1990. (\u201cCarbon account\u2019 refers to CO2 emissions and \u201cother targeted greenhouse gas emissions\u201d.) Only five MPs voted against it. Then in 2019, by secondary legislation and without serious debate, Parliament increased the 80% reduction requirement to 100% \u2013 thereby creating the Net Zero policy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":325522,"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":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"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":[691819134,691818557,691818154],"class_list":{"0":"post-325518","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-climate-alarmism","9":"tag-climate-change-act","10":"tag-net-zero","12":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/0-Net-Zero.jpeg?fit=2048%2C1299&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1mGi","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":182703,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=182703","url_meta":{"origin":325518,"position":0},"title":"Net zero: UK Government taken to court over \u201aimaginary \u2018climate policies\u00a0","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"14\/01\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Climate lawfare strikes again in the latest attempt to cast politicians as climate managers and make all the claims of greenhouse gas theories \u2014 including \u2018runaway climate change\u2019 \u2014 in effect legally enforceable.\u2013 \u2013 \u2013The UK government is being taken to court over accusations that its climate commitments are \u201cwoefully\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\/01\/0Screenshot-2022-01-14-134351.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/0Screenshot-2022-01-14-134351.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/0Screenshot-2022-01-14-134351.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/0Screenshot-2022-01-14-134351.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":330537,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=330537","url_meta":{"origin":325518,"position":1},"title":"Calling all Brits: Vote Early, Vote often","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"29\/05\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Bill McAuley, an engineer alumnus of Imperial College, London, mentions the following petition on the UK Parliament\u2019s website. 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