Claim about renewables we don’t believe
Yes, we know, there’s a difference between a bit of political rhetoric on a chat show and the sort of analysis required for public policy but:
Jess Ralston, head of energy at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit thinktank, said: “Every bit of free wind and sun power that we harness means we need to buy less foreign gas from abroad, boosting our energy security.”
Free?
The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, has set aside £1.1bn a year for offshore wind power developers investing in new projects in a funding round seen by some in the industry as too small to meet the UK’s green electricity targets.
The government’s energy department said today it had budgeted £900m to pay developers of fixed wind turbines at sea and £180m for floating platforms.
Some energy industry experts raised questions over whether the budget would allow for enough generation to keep the UK on track for decarbonising electricity generation by 2030. One said they had expected a budget as high as £2bn to hit the target.
We know, inflation’s terrible these days but a couple of billion quid is still real money - and not free.
What does worry us is that this rhetoric - it’s free! - is replacing the analysis necessary: What are the costs of collecting that free?
After all, oil and gas are free - all you’ve got to do is finance drilling a hole in the ground and there it all is!
So, a little more care when considering policy please. Wind and Sun are not free - not when they cost so much they’re not.
Tim Worstall