The insane Net Zero revolution is starting to devour its own children. The latest technology to fall foul of the zealots passionate hatred of all things hydrocarbon is carbon capture, a process that consumes billions of dollars, often fails to meet expectations and, horror of horrors, justifies the continuing activities of oil and gas companies. Green Blob-funded Oil Change International (OCI) has released a report entitled ‘Funding Failure: Carbon capture and fossil hydrogen subsidies exposed’. In an article circulated by Blob-funded Covering Climate Now and published by DeSmog – recently given £400,000 by the Rowntree Trust to continue running a grubby ‘blacklist’ of so-called climate deniers – carbon capture is said to be a “colossal waste” with the United States leading the way in public spending on “false climate solutions”. Perhaps not such good news for the Mad Miliband’s £8 billion GB Energy operation which will act as a state-run subsidy fund for numerous wacky green projects including carbon capture and hydrogen.
The zealots are correct about carbon capture and hydrogen. They both use vast amounts of energy to little effect. But there are few ‘green’ solutions in town to back up intermittent wind and solar power, so to date it is any port in a storm. But capturing carbon dioxide from combusted material or the atmosphere and compressing it to store underground for eternity is crazy. The old saying, ‘fools and their money are easily parted’ springs to mind. As an alternative to natural gas and a solution to electricity grid-scale storage, hydrogen – expensive, dangerous and lacking in kinetic energy – has almost nothing to offer.
Other major disadvantages of hydrogen have recently been discussed. The Daily Sceptic reported on a science paper that noted the higher combustion temperature of hydrogen can produce more polluting nitrogen dioxide. If runaway global ‘heating’ is your fear, the paper calculated that, pound for pound, escaping hydrogen causes 37 times more warming than CO2 since it produces ozone in the troposphere and water vapour in the stratosphere. All the past observational evidence points to the conclusion that the warming properties of gases ‘saturate’ at certain atmospheric levels, but for alarmists it seems that backing hydrogen is an increasingly bad look.
If the figures presented by OCI are correct, the scale of the waste is truly colossal. Since the 1990s an estimated $83 billion has been “invested” in carbon capture, but it has failed to make a dent in carbon emissions. “Carbon capture projects consistently fail, overspend or underperform,” the report claims. Over 80% of projects in the U.S. are said to fail due to technical issues, over-investment and a lack of financial returns. Even if the projects functioned as planned they would only capture 0.1% of emissions.
No doubt OCI is worried about taxpayer money being hosed away on useless projects, although greens usually take a relaxed view of such matters. But the real hatred for capturing CO2 is that it is used to enhance oil and gas production. The gas is sometimes pumped underground to extract the last barrels of oil from an exhausted field. Carbon capture subsidies are said to enhance fossil fuel extraction and boost oil industry profits.
The money wasted to date on carbon capture and hydrogen is appalling, but it is a fraction of the amount of public money made available to spend in the near future. OCI claims that policies announced since 2020 could amount to over $230 billion. The table below shows the range of potential government expenditures with uncertainties due to potential tax credit claims.
One obvious take-away from the table is the ludicrous amounts of money committed by the United Kingdom, a legacy of Buffo Boris and recent Net Zero-obsessed Conservative governments. For hapless British taxpayers, Mad Miliband is just the latest in a long line of politician removing cash from the wallets of working people and putting it in the hands of subsidy hunting, planet-saving spivs where it is thought to most properly belong.
In the U.K., as elsewhere, the Net Zero madness has exploded as a political issue with citizens slowly realising what is being planned. None of this will come as a surprise to regular readers of the Daily Sceptic. We have aimed to report on what the zealots have been writing and planning. Government-funded U.K. FIRES takes a realistic look at a future without hydrocarbons and envisages a 2050 world without meat, personal travel and buildings made of compacted earth. Britain could lose 75% of its energy supply by 2050 and the “whole excitement” of U.K. FIRES’s work has been to recognise that such a shortfall “is close to a certain reality”.
Meanwhile, the green billionaire-funded C40 group, chaired by Labour Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, raises the possibility of heavy reductions of personal transport and the imposition of Second World War-style rations with 44 grams of meat a day. This “pioneering piece of thought leadership” was said to seek a “radical, and rapid, shift in consumption patterns”. Needless to say, none of this stuff gets a mention in mainstream media, but it is always a good idea to discover what the true zealot is actually planning. Few clues as to their plans are available while they are seeking political power, as we saw in the recent British General Election. In the current U.S. Presidential campaign, Vice President Giggles is following a similar path, secure in the knowledge that carefully selected poodle journalists will not ask inconvenient questions.
The OCI report and its coverage via well-funded activist networks gives a valuable insight into the mindset of the true Net Zero zealot. There is no back-up to intermittent wind and solar and medicines, fertilisers and plastics will all disappear in an absolutist Net Zero world. But they don’t care. Their new religion is saving the planet from an invented climate crisis and their work for the new god pays little heed to the colossal damage that will be caused.
Chris Morrison is the Daily Sceptic’s Environment Editor.
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At last, something we can agree on! Pissing our money away is a bad idea!
The Age of Stupid. Just a corrupt mafia isn’t it. ‘Sequestering carbon’….to do what and why? No carbon, no life. No Co2 above 150 ppm no life. Are they trying to kill us?
Exactly the world captures its own carbon, it is called plant life, more CO2 more plant life. As I understand things, it was abundant luxuriant plant life that lead to the oil and gas deposits that have been so useful to mankind.
The whole idea of carbon capture seems like a colossal Sisyphean task, or possibly even worse, a Sisyphean task is pointless, carbon capture is harmful on a least 2 counts;
Carbon seems to be the Satanic Devil figure of our new climate change net-zero puritan religion, do we never learn?
Hydrocarbons are abiotic – the material is formed at the mantle and core. This was a Russian insight and why Russia went from zero to hero with oil and gas prod.
Your last question: Yes. Ss David Attenborough and Chris Packham want fewer people in the world; you’ve got to start somewhere.
Perhaps with them. Two fewer would be a start, and what an heroic sacrifice; showing us all the way.
He can demonstrate the combustion method that he seems to like.
Are those greenhouses in the back of the photo illustrating this article? If so, yet another place where CO2 is invaluable as its levels are raised within the glass houses to increase crop production. I mentioned this once to a climate zealot – that CO2 is good for plants, and was angrily told I was talking nonsense. Why are these people always angry?
And, apparently, that’s why talking to plants encouraged growth because you are breathing your CO2 over them (grow, you buggers!)
Not only that, but the use of gas fired heating is an economic way of raising the CO2 level for the crops, by using some of the exhaust from the heating. Any alternative heating source is bound to be less efficient, financially.
Yep.
Commercial greenhouses/nurseries maintain concentrations of between 1 000ppm and 1 200ppm (optimum for plant growth) to promote faster, healthy plant development requiring less watering.
Many plant species’ ancestors evolved during periods of concentrations above 1 000ppm, so their heirs and successors are presently struggling on meagre rations at 420ppm, but better than 30 years ago, 280ppm.
And odd to report… all that CO2 doesn’t cause the greenhouses to burst into flames because of the, er… greenhouse effect.
Why are they always angry? because they don’t like it up them!
Here’s Nigel Farage taking on Nick Robinson on the Beeb. He could’ve gone harder on the ‘climate crisis is bollocks because science’ but I realise when time is short and the interviewer has to get through their questions you have to choose your battles. Seeing BBC presenters and reporters just trigger me nowadays, Nick is no exception;
”Superb! Nigel Farage clinically dismantles our utterly ludicrous Net Zero targets.
Nick Robinson can’t challenge him because he knows Farage is right, resorting instead to childish and irrelevant responses, which backfire spectacularly.”
https://x.com/addicted2newz/status/1832068825166025059
Hurray! Another one gets red-pilled and defects. Interesting it’s never the other way around, isn’t it? People leaving Reform to move to the Tories or Labour;
”A Conservative Suffolk county councillor has defected to Reform UK.
Christopher Hudson, who represents Belstead Brook, announced his decision to resign from the Conservatives on Friday.
He has joined Reform, which is led by Clacton MP Nigel Farage.
“Unfortunately, the broken manifesto promises over stopping the boats, safeguarding our borders, keeping taxes low and reducing them have all been betrayed,” Mr Hudson said in a statement.
He added he will “work hard for a Greater Britain that is free, strong, secure and optimistic” and that Reform “is the best and only way to secure these aims”.
https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/24568572.suffolk-councillor-christopher-hudson-joins-reform/?ref=twtrec
I can’t fathom why anyone is still a member of the Fake Conservative Party, or why anyone votes for them, though our own Gerry England says Reform are not a “proper party” because they are “owned by Nigel Farage” – whatever that means.
Farage is actually leader of a movement who became leader of a Party.
People in the Country – anti-EU – with no political home, rallied behind Nigel Farage and followed him to UKIP, Brexit Party – both single issue – now to Reform UK a fledgling multi-issue Party.
He still at root is leader of a movement.
And why are they introducing the antidemocratic Whip system into their party. Not a good look.
Reform is company that is owned by Nigel Farage. Explain to me how that is a ‘proper party’.
Well it’s not the usual model, but so what?
But the fact he is not prepared to say that the whole climate ‘hype’ is nonsense and argue that point is very sad. He apparently believes there is a ‘carbon’ problem and that confirms to everyone watching that he believes in global warming and only wants to postpone its solution. Somebody needs to speak loudly and clearly that there is no problem with the climate, there is only a problem with greedy, ignorant politicians.
I think he understands ‘Climate Change’ is an ideology, arguing about it is as futile as arguing about any religion with its Faithful.
A Modern Day Secular Religion where non believers are all “heretics”, and where there is soon to be an “apocalypse” unless we repent our sinful (capitalist) ways.
Their phony climate change solutions are far more dangerous to people than any of their alleged climate change, which actually only exists in computer models full of guesses and assumptions. But all silly brainwashed climate alarmists should be aware that the IPCC itself have recently said that worst case scenario’s from their climate models are “very unlikely to occur”, so maybe all the superglue and tomato soup idiots should just give it a rest. —There is no Climate Crisis. –It is all pure politics.
And also as others pointed out, C02 is great, we need more, not less. That needs to be put out there, not just that it saturates in the atmosphere.
Yes a dreadful individual is Nick Robinson, but he is not alone. I heard on Radio 5 Live one day some prick called Nicky Campbell laugh at all the “climate deniers”. OK so that must me he is a “climate confirmer” He can “confirm” climate change can he? —NO he can’t. There are no experts, scientists or modellers who know what the climate is going to do and neither does any indoctrinated BBC presenter.
Nicky is on in the morning, can’t stand that sanctimonious prick.
Trouble is Nigel doesn’t challenge the “Science” when that’s exactly what’s needed.
He’s not a Scientist so, currently, it’s more important to halt the ‘solution’, the NET Zero policies, and stop wasting money. And it’s an easier battle to win.
The Climate is changing, but it isn’t being driven by increasing CO2 levels: the CO2 is lagging the changing temperatures. Historically we know that we have had several warm and cold periods lasting a few hundred years and we are now warming, coming out of the Little Ice Age, that followed the Medieval Warm Period.
Climate is affected by several factors, from Earth’s slightly altering orbit to solar events, like CMEs, coronal holes, and Flares. It’s a very interesting subject that is better studied as a Scientific discipline rather than an extension of the UK political bubble.
You say “The climate is changing”. But the climate changes all of the time on all time scales.—-So we do not need to call it “climate change” we only need to call it “climate”.
You could argue day and night bout the science and you will never get anywhere. The only thing I would argue is that if whatever climate change proponents say cannot be falsified, then it isn’t really science. They can produce paper after paper of assumption but if there is no way to disprove what is in those papers then it is not evidence of anything.
—-Nigel will just be going up a blind alley arguing about science. He should stick to asking alarmists for evidence, and since most of what they are saying does not appear in the real world only in models then they won’t be able to provide any. This will leave them trying to say things like “all scientists agree” etc, which isn’t science at all It is Politics. Science is not decided by a show of hands. It is decided by facts and evidence.
Carbon Capture Pointless Net Zero Scam
1,335,000 cubic metres of air contain 1ton of CO2.
So the whole of Wembley Stadium has 3 tons of CO2 in it. And burning fossil fuels release over 1000 tons/second…
That’s a lot of sucking to do.
“horror of horrors, justifies the continuing activities of oil and gas companies”
Hard not to think that this is the key point. If your agenda is impoverishment or worse of the masses, you certainly don’t want to allow hyrdocarbon fuelled prosperity any room to continue.
The very same oil and gas companies that provide 85% of the worlds energy. Where would the world be without that? We would be somewhere in the Stoneage. Wind and sun cannot do what fossil fuels do and will never be able to.
It was never about the climate.
Carbon capture sucks.
Bad Dad!
Net Zero = subsidy harvesting.
Near where I live in Fife, there is a Hydrogen project going on to replace gas in abroad 300 homes in a town called Buckhaven. The groundwork has been done and this was supposed to get underway in 2024. However it has been delayed for up to a year because of safety concerns (and supply chain issues apparently). Last year there was a report in the Herlad that the company involved in this would not release safety data as this may undermine confidence in the project. —–YOU WHAT? —-Experts have warned that in a domestic situation there is the likelihood of leaks and explosions because Hydrogen molecules are much smaller than natural gas. Residents were also promised this new Hydrogen would not cost any more than their gas did. But it is known that Hydrogen costs up to 3 times as much as gas. Recently I spoke to a friend who lives in this housing scheme and he told me that the person living next door to him has refused to participate in this project because he did his own sums and his own research and decided the cost would be prohibitive. Households have been offered free Hydrogen Boilers, cookers and fires and recently a £1000 “incentive” ————-I am always aware when I hear Government and the Corporate World speak of “World Leading Projects” especially when having anything to do with energy/climate, that all is not as it seems. (and that is to put it politely)
It looks like this project does not have a plan, with risk analysis, a list of risks, a detailed list of laws and legislation that it needs to adhere to, any prototyping (with one house?) or anyone competent running it.
It fact it could be being run by the Dept of Energy Security and Net Zero, given the level of competency displayed.
You can look it up for yourself. —-Type in H100 Fife.
“long line of politician removing cash from the wallets of working people and putting it in the hands of subsidy hunting, planet-saving spivs where it is thought to most properly belong”
A point made by Julian Assange. The point of Government is to remove public money and put into private hands.
” FIRES’s work has been to recognise that such a shortfall “is close to a certain reality”.
The “National plan” let slip by the old Malthusian Stanley Johnson. Thanks to the DS and UKC and lately Geoff Buys Cars (he gets mad in his latest video) some of us are aware that ‘they’ really do have a plan for us, something I was unaware of before 2020.
“Government-funded U.K. FIRES takes a realistic look at a future without hydrocarbons…”
Is this ‘realistic’ in the sense of what is required, as an observation, to meet Net-Zero or what someone wants to happen? Take a look at what is envisaged for us all.
https://ukfires.org/impact/publications/reports/absolute-zero/
“The old saying, ‘fools and their money are easily parted’ springs to mind.”
I don’t think you understand that the cause isn’t stupidity. It is much worse than that.
The reasons for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) being such a failure have been known for decades, well before CCS was proposed and financed.
Anyone with good A’ Level grades in Physics and Chemistry, and a usable brain, would understand all of the reasons for its demise and remember how they derived from the basic laws learned in class. It’s why these ridiculous processes were never used past prototyping, if ever, in a conventional setting.
But where are they all, these informed people? Why didn’t they object, earlier? What was stopping them?
They were classed as Climate Deniers, whenever they disagreed with the Green Agenda. And none were allowed to appear in the Legacy Media. They were ridiculed, refused further funding, and probably much worse: Judith Curry being one of the many victims.
In addition, those passing the Laws and controlling the grants to Industry and Academia, that sponsored the planting of the seeds of destruction, were not just ignorant of STEM subjects. Many had contempt for them, and ensured that any knowledgeable person, used to informed debate, were excluded from any public discussion. It is well known the BBC led the field in this, with particular celebrities showing the way. Everyone else, who were considered ‘sound’ followed, unquestionly! And that reflects on the education of non-STEM graduates involved. Intelligence is no substitute for Knowledge and Experience.
These systemic errors need to be corrected before we can have any confidence in returning our Government and Energy Industries to sanity, and allowing us to be supplied with domestic and industrial Energy, where appropriate.
Sleep walking over a cliff edge. People need waking up. The only question is how.