{"id":372701,"date":"2025-03-29T17:43:11","date_gmt":"2025-03-29T16:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=372701"},"modified":"2025-03-29T17:43:13","modified_gmt":"2025-03-29T16:43:13","slug":"fast-track-to-poverty-green-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=372701","title":{"rendered":"Fast Track to Poverty: Green\u00a0Energy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Hand with dollars on the background of solar panels.. Solar panel cost, solar powered business. The cost of green electricity, the energy of the future<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

From Science Matters<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Ron Clutz<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

At his blog, Matt Ridley explains How the Green Energy Transition Makes You Poorer.<\/strong><\/a>
Excerpts in italics with my bolds and added images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crony capitalism at work<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A leaked government analysis<\/strong> has found that Net Zero could crash the economy,<\/strong> reducing GDP by a massive 10% by 2030. Yet the spectacular thing about this analysis is that it expects this to happen not if Net Zero fails\u2014but if it succeeds.<\/strong> In effect, it is saying that if the government really<\/strong> does force us to give up petrol cars, gas boilers, foreign holidays, and beef<\/strong>, then there would be perfectly workable things left idle, such as cars, boilers, planes, and cows. Idling\u2014or stranding\u2014your assets in this way is an expensive economic disaster.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Even more intriguing was the government\u2019s economically illiterate response<\/strong> to the leak. A spokesman said: \u201cNet zero is the economic opportunity<\/strong> of the twenty-first century, and will deliver<\/strong> good jobs, economic growth and energy security<\/strong> as part of our Plan for Change.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do they really think that economic growth is the same thing
as spending money? Because it isn\u2019t.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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

Imagine<\/strong>\u00a0the government saying that it is going to\u00a0require the entire population to throw out all their socks and buy new ones by next Thursday.<\/strong>\u00a0Under\u00a0the logic it espouses for Net Zero,<\/strong>\u00a0this would result in a tremendous\u00a0burst of economic growth.<\/strong>\u00a0Think of all the\u00a0jobs created in the sock industry<\/strong>\u00a0and the shops! They would be better off. Ah,\u00a0but you, the consumer, would be poorer.<\/strong>\u00a0You would have as many socks as before but less money. This is\u00a0the broken window fallacy,<\/strong>\u00a0explained by Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Bastiat nearly 200 years ago: going around breaking windows makes work for glaziers but does not create growth.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Net Zero is a project to replace an existing set of technologies with another set of technologies:<\/strong>\u00a0power stations with wind farms, petrol cars with electric cars, gas boilers with heat pumps, plane trips in the sun with caravan trips in the rain, cows with lentils. The\u00a0output<\/strong>\u00a0from these technologies is intended\u00a0to be the same: electricity, transport, holidays, food.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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

Suppose<\/strong>, for the sake of argument, that\u00a0these new technologies<\/strong>\u00a0and activities require exactly\u00a0as much money to build and run as the old ones.<\/strong>\u00a0What have you\u00a0gained<\/strong>?\u00a0Less than nothing because you have retired existing devices early,<\/strong>\u00a0losing the latter half of their lives. It would be like replacing all the socks in your drawers long before they needed replacing but with identical socks.\u00a0Does that make you richer? No, poorer.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

If the new technologies are more efficient<\/strong>\u00a0than the old ones,\u00a0fine<\/strong>.\u00a0LED light bulbs<\/strong>\u00a0use about 90% less electricity than incandescent bulbs did. So yes, it does make sense to throw out your old bulbs before they expire, stranding those assets, to save electricity and money. Is the same true of\u00a0a wind farm or a heat pump?<\/strong>\u00a0No, they are demonstrably\u00a0more expensive and less reliable<\/strong>\u00a0at producing the same electricity than the devices they are replacing.\u00a0They are worse, not better.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

That\u2019s why they need subsidies<\/strong>. We have spent \u00a3100 billion so far subsidising \u201cgreen\u201d energy<\/strong> in the past few decades, money we could have spent on something else: tax cuts, for example. So, the green energy transition has made us poorer, not richer. It has given us the most expensive electricity in the entire developed world.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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

<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has made some people richer,<\/strong> for sure. Dale Vince, an eco-tycoon<\/strong>, has made a fortune out of building unreliable energy. So have lots of fat cats in the City of London<\/strong>, lots of big landowners in the Highlands<\/strong> of Scotland, and lots of manufacturers in China.<\/strong> I have lost count of the number of times wealthy people have told me I am wrong to criticise the unreliable energy industry because \u201cmy son Torquil\u2019s fund has done rather well.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Net Zero crony capitalism is efficient at one thing:
transferring money from poor people to rich people.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This government<\/strong> has forgotten that its job is not to champion the interests of producers, but consumers.<\/strong> So did the last government, though Kemi Badenoch\u2019s speech on Tuesday showed a welcome return to thinking about consumers. Electricity<\/strong> is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end, an essential input<\/strong> allowing us to do the one and only thing that does, really does, represent growth<\/strong>\u2014achieving more output with less input.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right now, the Net Zero transition is doing the very opposite.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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

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

A leaked government analysis\u00a0has found that\u00a0Net Zero could crash the economy,\u00a0reducing GDP by a massive 10% by 2030. Yet the spectacular thing about this analysis is that it expects this to happen\u00a0not if Net Zero fails\u2014but if it succeeds.\u00a0In effect, it is saying that if the government\u00a0really\u00a0does force us to\u00a0give up petrol cars, gas boilers, foreign holidays, and beef, then there would be perfectly workable things left idle, such as cars, boilers, planes, and cows.\u00a0Idling\u2014or stranding\u2014your assets in this way is an expensive economic disaster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":372721,"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":[691820955,691818656,691818118,691818154,691818299],"class_list":{"0":"post-372701","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-economic-growth","9":"tag-electricity","10":"tag-green-energy","11":"tag-net-zero","12":"tag-subsidies","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0iStock-1367272988.jpg?fit=2121%2C1414&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1yXj","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":239447,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=239447","url_meta":{"origin":372701,"position":0},"title":"New gas boilers could be banned within a decade","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/13\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"New gas boilers\u00a0should be banned within a decade, a review of net zero policy urges.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-579.png?fit=1200%2C646&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-579.png?fit=1200%2C646&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-579.png?fit=1200%2C646&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-579.png?fit=1200%2C646&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-579.png?fit=1200%2C646&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":435945,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=435945","url_meta":{"origin":372701,"position":1},"title":"$2 Trillion Later, The Green Revolution Collapsed: How Chasing Weather Power Bankrupted the Grid and Cost the World $40 Trillion in Growth","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/31\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Between 2010 and 2026, governments and corporations poured roughly $2 trillion into solar, wind, and \u201cnet\u2011zero\u201d programs under the promise of an imminent clean\u2011energy transition. What the public received instead was an illusion\u2014a fragile grid, higher electricity prices, and negligible climate benefits. Energy remained just as carbon\u2011intensive, but far more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"clean\u2011energy transition\"","block_context":{"text":"clean\u2011energy transition","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=clean-energy-transition-3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0-2-Trillion-Later-The-Green-Revolution-Collapsed-How-Chasing-Weather-Power-Bankrupted-the-Grid-and-Cost-the-World-40-Trillion-in-Growth.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0-2-Trillion-Later-The-Green-Revolution-Collapsed-How-Chasing-Weather-Power-Bankrupted-the-Grid-and-Cost-the-World-40-Trillion-in-Growth.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0-2-Trillion-Later-The-Green-Revolution-Collapsed-How-Chasing-Weather-Power-Bankrupted-the-Grid-and-Cost-the-World-40-Trillion-in-Growth.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0-2-Trillion-Later-The-Green-Revolution-Collapsed-How-Chasing-Weather-Power-Bankrupted-the-Grid-and-Cost-the-World-40-Trillion-in-Growth.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":419601,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=419601","url_meta":{"origin":372701,"position":2},"title":"Gas Boiler Owners \u201cWill Subsidise Heat Pump Users\u201d With New Levy Under Ed Miliband\u2019s \u00a315 Billion Energy Plans","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/03\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"This story claim that, as part of Energy Secretary Ed Miliband's upcoming \u00a315 billion Warm Homes Plan, the UK government is considering a new green levy of around \u00a330 per year on gas bills. 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Wind turbines, solar panels and mythical mega-batteries require more energy to produce than they\u2019ll ever repay.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/019coal1-videoSixteenByNineJumbo1600.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/019coal1-videoSixteenByNineJumbo1600.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/019coal1-videoSixteenByNineJumbo1600.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/019coal1-videoSixteenByNineJumbo1600.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/019coal1-videoSixteenByNineJumbo1600.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=372701"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":372723,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372701\/revisions\/372723"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/372721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=372701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=372701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=372701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}