At 47 U.S. cents per kilowatt hour (c/KWh) the U.K. has some of the highest household energy costs in the world. Countries like India (7 c/KWh) and China (8 c/KWh) and South Korea (9 c/KWh) pay around a fifth of U.K. prices. The U.S. at 18 c/KWh, France at 21 c/KWh, Singapore at 22 c/KWh and Japan at 25 c/KWh pay around half of the U.K.’s prices. Only Germany at a massive 52 c/KWh and Denmark at 53 c/KWh pay more than we do.
What effect will Sir Keir Starmer’s ambition to turn Britain into a “clean energy superpower” and ban any further oil and gas exploration have on the price we will pay for our electricity, assuming he becomes our next Prime Minister?
In general (there are some exceptions such as Germany) the more coal a country uses for its energy, the cheaper that energy is (source Our World in Data):
India energy cost 7 c/KWh, 57% of energy from coal
China energy cost 8 c/KWh, 55% of energy from coal
South Korea energy cost 9 cKWh, 24% of energy from coal
USA energy cost 18 c/KWh, 11% of energy from coal
Britain energy cost 47 c/KWh, 3% of energy from coal
Germany energy cost 52 c/KWh, 17% of energy from coal
We have, of course, plenty of energy-rich coal in Britain. But we’re not allowed to use it because the CO2 emissions will supposedly cause a climate catastrophe possibly wiping out the human race. As Prince, now King, Charles warned us in May 2009, “The best scientific projections indicate that we have very little time left – indeed less than 100 months – in which to alter our behaviour drastically.”
There are many other analyses we could do. For example, you could compare how much nuclear energy a country uses with its energy cost. If we take three neighbouring countries – France, Britain and Germany — we see that France with energy costs of 21 c/KWh gets 36% of its power from nuclear, whereas Britain (47 c/KWh) only gets 6% from nuclear and Germany (52 c/KWh) 5% and is closing down the last of its nuclear power stations in the next few years.
However, as Sr Keir plans a massive increase in wind and solar power for Britain, an issue which might worry British households and businesses is that that the more renewables – solar and wind – a country uses, the higher its energy costs seem to be in spite of our politicians claiming that renewables such as solar and wind will give us a glorious green cheap energy future:
India energy cost 7 c/KWh, 3% of energy from solar and wind
China energy cost 8 c/KWh, 6% of energy from solar and wind
South Korea energy cost 9 c/KWh, 2% of energy from solar and wind
USA energy cost 18 c/KWh, 6% from solar and wind
Britain energy cost 47 c/KWh, 10% of energy from solar and wind
Germany energy cost 52 c/KWh, 13% from solar and wind
But the situation with supposed ‘clean energy’ such as solar and wind may be much worse than the above figures suggest. Why? Because we’re not actually paying the full cost of unreliable, intermittent and expensive solar and wind. Instead, our rulers are hiding the full cost from us by giving massive subsidies from general taxation to solar and wind projects. For example, in the five years from 2016 to 2021, the British government was reported as paying £8.7 billion in subsidies to renewable energy companies. That’s £1.74 billion a year – a cost that should have appeared on households’ and companies’ electricity bills were there no subsidies from general taxation.
Moreover, the costs for ‘green energy’ don’t include the cost of keeping gas, oil or even coal plants available to be fired up on days when there is no sun or too little or too much wind.
The United States recently approved a $430 billion new green energy subsidy package labelled the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), offering tax breaks for components used in renewable energy technologies on condition they’re made in North America, again hiding the true cost of ‘green’ energy to homes and businesses.
Looking at the figures, there appear to be two quite distinct energy worlds. There’s the real world in which countries which burn a lot of coal and use very little wind and solar have low energy prices of just a few cents/KWh and staggering growth rates as industry and jobs naturally gravitate towards countries with low energy costs. Then there’s the green energy fantasyland where massive taxpayer subsidies and hiding the true costs of green energy allow politicians to claim that the transition from fossil fuels to supposed ‘clean energy’ like wind and solar will give their countries cheap, reliable energy security.
It will be interesting to see what happens to the prices British households and businesses have to pay for their electricity as the country moves towards our politicians’ nirvana of carbon neutrality.
As for Sir Keir ‘Just Stop Oil’ Starmer’s boast that he’s going to make Britain a ‘clean energy superpower’ – the figures from many countries show this is complete nonsense. All he’s going to do is push up U.K. energy prices, export British jobs, crush the U.K. economy and bankrupt Britain.
David Craig’s latest book There is No Climate Crisis is available as a paperback or ebook from Amazon.
Stop Press: In a strong editorial, the Daily Mail warns that Keir Starmer’s “mad dash to Net Zero” will leave us all poorer.
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Excellent paper-trail along the path to net zero and its destination: penury.
Green energy will never = “superpower”
It will = “intermittent power” at best!
Do politicians ever read anything….or do they just witter to each other and screw things up……..
‘The authors find that Net Zero – the global movement to eliminate fossil fuels and its emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases – to be scientifically invalid and a threat to the lives of billions of people.
Among the paper’s findings are:
• Net Zero proponents regularly report that extreme weather is more severe and frequent because of climate change while the evidence shows no increase – and, in some cases, a decrease – in such events.
• Computer models supporting every government Net Zero regulation and the trillions of dollars subsidizing renewables and electric cars, trucks, home heating, appliances and many other products do not work.
• Scientific research and studies that do not support the “consensus” narrative of harmful man-made global warming are routinely censored and excluded from government reports such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the National Climate Assessment.
• Conclusions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that contradict the narrative of catastrophic global warming from fossil fuels are rewritten by government bureaucrats for public reports to support the false narrative of Net Zero.
• The many benefits of modest warming and increasing carbon dioxide are routinely either eliminated or minimized in governmental reports.
• Eliminating fossil fuels and implementing Net Zero policies and actions mean the elimination of fossil fuel-derived nitrogen fertilizers and pesticides that will result in about half the world’s population not having enough food to eat. Many would starve.
• The adoption of Net Zero is the rejection of overwhelming scientific evidence that there is no risk of catastrophic global warming caused by fossil fuels and CO2. Net Zero, then, violates the tenets of the scientific method that for more than 300 years has underpinned the advancement of western civilization.’
‘Challenging ‘Net Zero’ with Science’ Lindzen, Happer, CO2 Coalition 23 Feb 2023
Covid and net zero – the suicide of the West, or murder?
I am in the ‘accidental death’ camp….because of the astonishing stupidity on display from those in power:
‘What did surprise us is we hadn’t really thought through the economic impacts.’
Melinda Gates
Hancock: “We frighten the pants off everyone with the new strain.”
Poole (Hancock’s media advisor): “Yep that’s what will get proper bahviour [sic] change.”
Elysee official: “We had to clearly threaten him to make him finally budge,” “The way it’s presented is a bit harsh, but we were indeed preparing to close (the border),” March 2020
And so on and so forth
But, I agree, it beggars belief that, again, no realistic cost/benefit study has been done regarding the economic impact of net zero……utter madness….but then, to me, Major, Blair, Brown, Cameron/Clegg, May, Johnson, Truss, Starmer, all appear hopelessly and completely away with the fairies…..
I dunno – I just don’t buy the idea that they are all mad or stupid. To climb the greasy pole requires a certain amount of savvy. But then I’ve never know one personally so hard to be sure.
Apparently they are not really batty, just victims of ‘protective cognition theory’
‘Identity protective cognition refers to the tendency of culturally diverse individuals to selectively credit and dismiss evidence in patterns that reflect the beliefs that predominate in their group.’
‘Misconceptions, Misinformation, and the Logic of Identity-Protective Cognition’ D. Kahan 2017
‘Anyone who has ever found themselves in an angry argument with their political or social circle will know how threatening it feels. For a lot of people, being “right” just isn’t worth picking a bitter fight with the people they care about. That’s particularly true in a place like Washington, where social circles and professional lives are often organized around people’s politics, and the boundaries of what those tribes believe are getting sharper.’
‘How politics makes us stupid’ Ezra Klein Apr 2014
Indeed, but where did it start? Or is it just collective insanity that started with one person presenting an idea that suddenly took hold? Take covid – where did the madness start? Who was following who?
The madness started in China, which country has undue influence over ‘Teddy’ at WHO, aided and abetted by the Gates foundation.
The proliferation of supranational political organisations has meant that the global body politic has fallen prey to protective cognition theory.
That is why we need a radical rethink regarding our politicians…I think double their pay to encourage more strong minded mavericks to have a go…..
Perhaps China, yes. Damning indictment of the “free” world that we dug ourselves into a hole copying the CCP.
Our fault for enriching the most murderous nation in human history in order to game the currency and get cheap gadgets made by a slave workforce! Chinese slaves build our smartphones in conditions we wouldn’t allow, and Western governments use the smartphones to enslave their people!
Or we could try; no pay for politicians and indeed no politicians, would we notice any problems if they all just disappeared?
The eco-crap and Agenda 21/30 can be put at the door of Maurice Strong, a sort of contemporary of/prototype Soros.
Ah yes, WEF, UN, moved to China…
You forgot the fishy Rishi Sunak
Dangerous to mention on here but I am a supporter of the present Prime Minister.
He is just as fallible as the rest of us but I think and hope he has a backbone to go with the ability…….
I’ll get my coat…….
It was lockdowns and the jabs, not covid.
To net zero can be added ongoing mass immigration – which uttely contradicts the claim that there’s a climate emergency – the indoctrination and demoralisation of our children, the trashing of our history and culture, the trans evil, de facto and increasingly de jure second class status for the indigenous population, preferential treatment for Islam, the destruction of the countryside… I could go on.
This is not a case of lots of accidents in the same direction. It has been planned for a long time, but it seems to me that they’ve revealed themselves in recent years to be in a desperate rush.
All part of the Great Reset. A world run by technocrats. You begin to see all the pieces. At first you think why are we having all of this Woke Capitalism, till you realise it is just another cog in the globalist wheel. The Bud Light fiasco is another example of pandering to social justice than simply making profit and ofcourse it is costing them money in the short term with the hope that they can come aboard the collectivist Stakeholder Capitalism in the long term.
You did well in that comment. I have been stating a lot of that stuff on different mediums for 15 years or more and I am still having to do it yet because we are falling deeper and deeper into the Green (Red) hole of Eco Socilaism masquerading as saving the planet.————You might also want to read “Taken by Storm” Essex and McKitrick. “Energy and Climate Wars” Michael J Economides, and a monster of a book called “Hubris” by Michael Hart.
Thank you and very well done. Your efforts are very much appreciated.
‘Watts Up With That’ is, for me, a mine of information and really good for morale during this utter mind blowing lunacy…..again.
Germany and Denmark have the highest prices because they rely the most on wind. Yet I often hear the wind is FREE. I also often hear the renewables like wind are now cheaper than fossil fuels. ————-Ha ahahha aha.jeez— How vomit inducing are Green liars going to get before we rise up and vote these charlatans out? ——-But then you realise that the whole political class is in on this eco scam, so you can’t vote them out. It is bit like having the Wolves and the Lambs all eating the Rabbits.
“The best scientific projections indicate that we have very little time left – indeed less than 100 months – in which to alter our behaviour drastically.”————–Projections are NOT science. They are the result of assumptions speculations and guesses put into a computer model. Computer models full of assumptions are NOT science. Which is why none of the climate models have matched what is actually happening in the real world. But as long as 85% or more of the public don’t realise that and think it is all about science then the eco socialists (which includes the King) are seemingly going to get away with the pseudo scientific fraud.
I confidently predict there will be no Labour Government.
Hung Parliament most likely, or slim Tory majority.
Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake. Or multiple mistakes.
The biggest issue will be turnout: many Tories are so angry about the lockdowns and Net Zero that they claim they won’t vote for the party again – still my intention. Will fear of Labour’s genocidal ideas (the energy plans will cause death on a massive scale) persuade them to swallow their anger, will they vote Reform or Reclaim or will they simply not vote? Similarly, the SNP is self-destructing, but will that translate into Labour votes? If it does, that presents a significant problem. I’m afraid there’s a storm coming, whether it turns out to be red, blue or yellow clouds on the horizon. We have political parties that are in power for the sake of being in power, that would be delighted if most of the population just died and the rest could be turned into slaves.
Frankly I am amazed that so many, still believe that Net Zero cobblers is a genuine policy owned and pushed by British politicians. It is nothing of the sort. This eco nuttery is being pushed by the Davos Deviants and our politicians are simply the foot soldiers in the same way they implemented the C1984 mayhem.
This is their reset and squabbling about which political party is less stupid than the next is barking.
Net Zero is just one phase in the plan to destroy the West, depopulate and enslave those who survive the cull – temporarily.
It appears a few people are still half asleep.
Our salvation will not arrive via the ballot box. (TM)
He would certainly be worse for the UK than Biden is for the USA
Sri Lanka, here we come!!
We know exactly what reliance on wind and solar power will mean for the British people.
A return to the living standards of the Middle Ages. And that’s exactly what is being planned for us.
We all know Big Ears Windsor is a numpty but with regards to Starmer. Will we EVER be blessed with an intelligent leader in the nation again?
Excellent informative article.
In spite of the constant lies about ‘renewable’ power generation now being cheaper than its conventional counterparts I have always known intuitively that trying to grab energy directly from the wind and sun must be massively more expensive than utilising highly concentrated fossil fuel alternatives (coal, oil, gas etc).
However trying to dig out comparable cost figures from underneath the morass of direct and hidden subsidies plus deliberate deceptions involved in this area has proved to be almost impossible; so these clear-cut international numbers are an invaluable contribution to the debate.
The most useful are probably:
China: 8c per Kwhr / 55% coal / 6% renewables.
USA: 18c Kwhr / 11% coal / 6% renewables.
UK: 47c Kwhr / 3% coal / 10% renewables.
Enough said; and it is vital to remember that energy underpins just about every other domestic and commercial activity, in the light of which the UK economy and general material well-being of the population is in a fundamentally and entirely self-inflicted hugely undermined condition;
One which both the Conservative and Labour Parties seems determined to exacerbate rather than alleviate.
And in the latter case to ever increasingly grind down the already poorest and most vulnerable who both suffer first and heaviest from Net Zero measures, and Labour explicitly claim to most care for.
Keir (!) Hardie will be spinning in his grave.
I was watching one of my local wind turbines yesterday, it took approx 20 minutes to complete half a revolution. That’s the problem with weather systems that don’t move far with constant pressure, as we’ve been experiencing in the UK recently. There’s little or no wind.
Starmer is obviously an imbecile when it comes to economics and science. Please people who are not similarly imbecilic, don’t vote for him, or he will cripple our country more than the Tories already have.