Benny Peiser's Global Warming Policy Foundation Reports That Britain Faces Multi-Billion Black Hole In Renewables Subsidies and Green Subsidies
"Will Be Cut". UK Investors Had Been Warned!
UK Faces Multi-Billion Black Hole In Renewables Subsidies - The
Government is facing a multi-billion pound black hole in its budget to pay for
new clean energy supplies, which could result in rising household electricity
bills unless there is a dramatic decline in investment in renewable
technologies. Senior Whitehall sources have told The Independent
that the Department of Energy and Climate Change has already overspent its
budget by £1.5bn to support renewable energy projects over the next five years.
Unless more money can be found, key projects such as carbon capture and
storage, as well as the future of new offshore wind farms, could be placed in
jeopardy. --Oliver Wright, The
Independent, 16 July 2015
Green Subsidy Cuts: UK Investors Had Been Warned - The
past few weeks have seen some seminal developments in UK energy policy, all of
which have caused or might cause losses for investors in the sector. They are
the latest manifestation of the on-going affordability crises in European
energy policy. EU countries have embarked on one of the most extensive and
expensive industrial transformation programs in history. This program is
however proving to be much more expensive than originally envisaged and is
being implemented in a profoundly more challenging economic environment. When
European governments have been faced with the affordability crises they have,
without fail, chosen to ease the pain on consumers by inflicting pain on
investors. --Peter Atherton & Oliver Salvesen¸Jefferies
International, 14 July 2015
Britain May Miss Binding EU Renewables Targets Several European member states including France, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands and the UK run the risk of missing their 2020 renewable energy targets, according to the latest progress report from the European Commission. Even though the UK has one of the lowest 2020 renewable energy targets of all EU member states, the UK’s share of renewable energy in its energy mix was just 5.1% in 2013, little more than one-third of its 15% by 2020 target. --Jessica Mills-Davies, The Engineer, 18 June 2015
Power Bills May Rise Amid Winter Capacity Fears - Consumers will face higher energy bills to keep the lights on this winter as National Grid puts in place plans to ensure there is spare capacity in the system. The closure of some power stations would have left a spare capacity of just 1.2%, and the electricity company has put mothballed plants on standby and is asking some industries to be ready to power down if needed. --Press Association, 15 July 2015
Heat Rises On Britain To Change Planning Laws After Shale Gas Projects Blocked - Pressure is mounting on Britain’s pro-shale government to make changes to the planning system after local politicians rejected two projects that could have become Britain’s first shale gas producing wells. Prime Minister David Cameron, who has promised to go “all out for shale”, said he respected the planning process but still wanted shale gas to go ahead. His quest to replicate at least a small slice of the United States’ success in bringing down energy prices with the help of shale gas is now looking bleaker than ever. In order to save his dream, Cameron has to reform the planning system to give the government the final say in approving new projects, legal experts and industry representatives said. --Karoli Schaps and Susanna Twidale, Reuters, 15 July 2015
UK Plans For Faster Fracking Get Go-Ahead - Shale companies will be allowed to begin fracking a year earlier than at present under government plans to allow them to test groundwater without planning permission. Ministers are expected to approve an industry request for “permitted development rights” to drill boreholes at potential extraction sites before fracking has been approved. At present, the shale gas and oil industry must obtain planning permission for water-testing boreholes, which could delay the start of fracking by up to 12 months. --Ben Webster, The Times, 15 July 2015
Germany’s Green Energy Transition May
Be Running Out
Of Money, Study Warns
Greece and Italy
see solar energy as path to economic stability
- New Hampshire, U.S.A. -- In places like Africa and
India, solar energy has long been hailed for its ability to raise standards of
living and boost developing economies. For two established members of the
European Union, it may have the power to restore international confidence. Greece and Italy remain in deep fiscal trouble as both
nations embark on uncertain paths to cut costs and rebuild struggling
economies. Austerity measures pushed by leaders in both nations have created a
fork in the road — should they invest in a burgeoning sector or should they
abandon costly government programs? Steve
Leone, Renewable Energy World, 12 April 2012
Germany’s Green Energy Transition May Be Running Out Of Money, Study Warns - Germany’s green energy transition has cost more than 100 billion euros so far. It has hit large and small electricity suppliers with force and put traditional business models in question. But 15 years after the start of the transition, experts are asking themselves an anxious question: is the energy transition running out of money? Quite possible, is the answer that the German section of the World Energy Council and the consultants from Roland Berger provide. --Andreas Mihm, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 23 June 2015
Germany’s Energiewende Finds the Sour Spot - Germany’s Energiewende was a plan that from the outset reflected all the unexamined beliefs central to the modern green movement, and it’s been plagued by problems at every step. The Energiewende does manage to do some good by serving as a cautionary tale to the rest of the world: this is what happens when you let starry-eyed greens take the reins. --The American Interest, 30 June 2015
Bill Gates: Renewable Energy Can’t Do The Job - Retired software kingpin and richest man in the world Bill Gates says today’s renewable-energy technologies aren’t a viable solution for reducing CO2 levels, and governments should divert green subsidies into R&D aimed at better answers. Gates has said a lot of this before. The main new thing is the firm assertion that renewable energy technology as it now is has no chance of powering a reasonably numerous and well-off human race. This is actually a very simple thing to work out, and just about anybody numerate who thinks about the subject honestly comes to the same conclusion. --Lewis Page, The Register, 26 June 2015
People get a little a misled. They’ll take something like solar PVs and say, when the sun is shining that daytime energy will replace hydrocarbons. That is completely uninteresting, because you still want to heat apartments at night. The system is all about reliability. You can drive the need for daytime energy down to zero and you still want the power company to have that hydrocarbon plant at night. We’ve got a little stuck on inventions that can take us up to 30 per cent of the solution. But because they’re subsidised, they’re not economically viable. --Bill Gates, Financial Times, 25 June 2015
Renewable Stocks Shaken by Greek Woes as Investors Shun Risk - Clean energy stocks plunged this week amid concerns of a Greek default, a slower Chinese economy and a U.S. court ruling that could keep more coal-fired power plants operating. Since Friday’s close, the WilderHill New Energy Global Innovation Index declined 3 percent while the Bloomberg Intelligence Global Large Solar Energy Valuation Peers Index is off 3.4 percent. Those drops exceed the broader S&P 500 index, which has dipped 1.8 percent over the same period. --Ehren Goossens, Bloomberg, 30 June 2015
U.S. Supreme Court Ruling Spells Trouble For Obama’s Climate Agenda - President Obama has made it clear that his Environmental Protection Agency will use its regulatory power to install limits on carbon dioxide and toxic-air pollutants for everything from power plants to trucks. But Monday’s Supreme Court decision against EPA is a reminder that the biggest threat to Obama’s green legacy and the sweeping regulatory agenda that the administration is racing to cement before the president leaves office comes from the courts. --Clare Foran, National Journal, 30 June 2015
Germany’s Green Energy Transition May Be Running Out Of Money, Study Warns - Germany’s green energy transition has cost more than 100 billion euros so far. It has hit large and small electricity suppliers with force and put traditional business models in question. But 15 years after the start of the transition, experts are asking themselves an anxious question: is the energy transition running out of money? Quite possible, is the answer that the German section of the World Energy Council and the consultants from Roland Berger provide. --Andreas Mihm, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 23 June 2015
Germany’s Energiewende Finds the Sour Spot - Germany’s Energiewende was a plan that from the outset reflected all the unexamined beliefs central to the modern green movement, and it’s been plagued by problems at every step. The Energiewende does manage to do some good by serving as a cautionary tale to the rest of the world: this is what happens when you let starry-eyed greens take the reins. --The American Interest, 30 June 2015
Bill Gates: Renewable Energy Can’t Do The Job - Retired software kingpin and richest man in the world Bill Gates says today’s renewable-energy technologies aren’t a viable solution for reducing CO2 levels, and governments should divert green subsidies into R&D aimed at better answers. Gates has said a lot of this before. The main new thing is the firm assertion that renewable energy technology as it now is has no chance of powering a reasonably numerous and well-off human race. This is actually a very simple thing to work out, and just about anybody numerate who thinks about the subject honestly comes to the same conclusion. --Lewis Page, The Register, 26 June 2015
People get a little a misled. They’ll take something like solar PVs and say, when the sun is shining that daytime energy will replace hydrocarbons. That is completely uninteresting, because you still want to heat apartments at night. The system is all about reliability. You can drive the need for daytime energy down to zero and you still want the power company to have that hydrocarbon plant at night. We’ve got a little stuck on inventions that can take us up to 30 per cent of the solution. But because they’re subsidised, they’re not economically viable. --Bill Gates, Financial Times, 25 June 2015
Renewable Stocks Shaken by Greek Woes as Investors Shun Risk - Clean energy stocks plunged this week amid concerns of a Greek default, a slower Chinese economy and a U.S. court ruling that could keep more coal-fired power plants operating. Since Friday’s close, the WilderHill New Energy Global Innovation Index declined 3 percent while the Bloomberg Intelligence Global Large Solar Energy Valuation Peers Index is off 3.4 percent. Those drops exceed the broader S&P 500 index, which has dipped 1.8 percent over the same period. --Ehren Goossens, Bloomberg, 30 June 2015
U.S. Supreme Court Ruling Spells Trouble For Obama’s Climate Agenda - President Obama has made it clear that his Environmental Protection Agency will use its regulatory power to install limits on carbon dioxide and toxic-air pollutants for everything from power plants to trucks. But Monday’s Supreme Court decision against EPA is a reminder that the biggest threat to Obama’s green legacy and the sweeping regulatory agenda that the administration is racing to cement before the president leaves office comes from the courts. --Clare Foran, National Journal, 30 June 2015
Germany
To Scrap Climate Change Levy On Coal Plants
US
Lawmakers Vote To Block Obama’s Climate Policy
US Lawmakers Vote To Block Obama’s Climate Policy - The
House of Representatives voted Wednesday to delay the Environmental Protection
Agency’s climate rule for power plants and let state governors opt out of
complying. The bill, passed 247-180, is a major blow to the main pillar of
President Obama’s effort to reduce the greenhouse gases that cause climate
change, although the White House has promised a veto to protect his legacy. The
regulation’s enforcement would also be delayed until all court challenges are
resolved. The GOP believes that the rule will not withstand judicial review, so
the delay is designed to ensure that the regulation never takes effect.
--Timothy Cama and Cristina Marcos, The
Hill, 25 June 2015
US States To
Defy Obama’s Climate Plans - Indiana will not comply with
President Barack Obama’s plan to battle climate change by requiring reductions
in emissions from coal-fired power plants, Republican Gov. Mike Pence said
Wednesday. The proposal as currently written, known as the Clean Power Plan,
will make Indiana electricity more expensive and less reliable and hurt
economic growth in Indiana and across the nation, Pence wrote in a letter to
Obama. Indiana is not the only state to defy the president on the issue.
Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Mary Fallin issued an executive order in April
prohibiting her state from developing a plan to reduce its carbon dioxide
emission from power plants. --Associated
Press, 24 June 2015
Republicans warn world that Obama U.N. plan could be undone - The Obama administration's
plan for U.N. climate change talks encountered swift opposition after its
release Tuesday, with Republican leaders warning other countries to
"proceed with caution" in negotiations with Washington because any
deal could be later undone. --Valerie Volcovici, Reuters,
31 March 2015
Germany To Scrap
Climate Change Levy On Coal Plants - Germany will scrap plans
to raise emissions charges for older coal-fired power stations, bowing to
pressure from the power sector which warned that the levy would result in the
closure of mines and power plants. The move illustrates the challenge Berlin
faces as it attempts to meet its ambitious targets to combat climate change
while safeguarding jobs. Despite a shift towards renewable energy, Germany
still generates 44 per cent of its electricity from coal. --Jeevan Vasagar, Financial
Times, 25 June 2015
EU Plans To Drop
Methane Emissions Limits - Expecting opposition from the
agri-food sector, the European Union is dropping its plan to put a limit on
methane emissions, Irish Times reported. EU countries earlier wanted to include
methane, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and
ammonia as four air pollutants whose emission limits should be implemented.
However a “working paper” is no longer including methane and ammonia due to
“concerns about possible overlaps with commitments related to greenhouse gas
emission reduction targets”. --Vittorio Hernandez, International
Business Times, 23 June 2015
Dutch Government Climate Policy Ruled Illegal Under Human Rights Law - A court in the Hague has declared the Dutch government’s climate policy illegal and ordered it to cut its emissions by at least 25 per cent within five years, in a landmark ruling. In the first climate change liability suit brought under human rights and tort law, Judge Hans Hofhuis said that the threat posed by global warming was severe and acknowledged by the Dutch government in international treaties. To cheers from climate campaigners in the court, three judges ruled that government plans to cut emissions by just 14-17 per cent compared to 1990 levels by 2020 were illegal. --Arthur Nelsen, Guardian Sustainable Business, 24th June 2015
Dutch Government Climate Policy Ruled Illegal Under Human Rights Law - A court in the Hague has declared the Dutch government’s climate policy illegal and ordered it to cut its emissions by at least 25 per cent within five years, in a landmark ruling. In the first climate change liability suit brought under human rights and tort law, Judge Hans Hofhuis said that the threat posed by global warming was severe and acknowledged by the Dutch government in international treaties. To cheers from climate campaigners in the court, three judges ruled that government plans to cut emissions by just 14-17 per cent compared to 1990 levels by 2020 were illegal. --Arthur Nelsen, Guardian Sustainable Business, 24th June 2015
Dutch Government
To Appeal Court’s Climate Ruling - The Dutch Government will
appeal a far-reaching climate change ruling by the court in The Hague according
to cabinet sources. The court ruled yesterday that the government should ensure
that CO2 emissions by 2020 is reduced further than the government had planned.
The environment secretary yesterday said in an official reaction that the
government will study the ruling. However, insiders report that the verdict
will be challenged by the government. --De
Telegraph, 25 June 2015
Press Release
17/07/15
Labour And
Conservative MPs Join GWPF
Graham Stringer
& Peter Lilley Join Board of Trustees
London 17 July: The Global Warming Policy Foundation is pleased to announce that Graham Stringer and the Rt Hon Peter Lilley have joined the GWPF’s Board of Trustees.
Graham Stringer is a Labour MP. He was the leader of Manchester City Council
and the Parliamentary Secretary in the Cabinet Office under Tony Blair.
Peter Lilley is a Conservative MP. He was Secretary of State for Trade and
Industry and Secretary of State for Social Security in Margaret Thatcher’s
Cabinet. He was appointed by David Cameron to the Number 10 Policy Board with
responsibility for Foreign Affairs, Europe, Defence and International
Development.
The other members of the GWPF
Board of Trustees are:
Lord Lawson (Chairman)
Lord Donoughue
Lord Fellowes
Rt Rev Peter Forster, Bishop of Chester
Sir Martin Jacomb
Baroness Nicholson
Lord Turnbull
Lord Donoughue
Lord Fellowes
Rt Rev Peter Forster, Bishop of Chester
Sir Martin Jacomb
Baroness Nicholson
Lord Turnbull
Contact
Dr Benny Peiser
Director, The Global Warming Policy Foundation
10 Upper Bank Street, London E14 5NP
mob: 07553 361717
benny.peiser@thegwpf.org
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