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Originally posted by birdman29: ↑

MARCH 28, 2024

By Paul Homewood
Building new gas power plants will, of course, “only make the transition to renewables-based power unnecessarily costly”. How do I know? Because I heard it from a bunch of climate activists calling themselves Beyond Fossil Fuels. What’s more, building new gas plants runs contrary to the “emerging consensus” that Europe must phase out all fossil fuel-generation of power by 2035.
I’m used to activists making sweeping assertions and talking in generalities rather than addressing the boring old details like how we keep the lights on when there is little in the way of wind and solar energy on offer, but this really does take the biscuit. Only a “consensus” of climate activists with their heads in the clouds – plus Ed Miliband – thinks we could save consumers money by closing down all our gas power plants in the near future. Judge European governments by their actions rather than their words and the clear consensus is that we are very much going to need gas power in the future. As Beyond Fossil Fuels itself reveals, Britain is not the only country that is building new gas plants. Across Europe, 72 gigawatts-worth of themare being planned. This may well be contrary to the targets governments have set themselves to decarbonise their power sectors, but when forced to make a choice between virtue-signalling and keeping the lights on they are invariably choosing the latter.

It ought to be obvious that you cannot construct a national grid onsolar and wind power alone. Renewables are great on a sunny, windy day like today when wind and solar farms between them are generating 21 gigawatts of power. It is rather less good on calm winter evenings when they can struggle to generate 1 gigawatt. What makes it possible to incorporate so much wind and solar power in our energy mix is gas power plants, which can be turned up or down at short notice to balance variable and unpredictable renewable power.

Only a “consensus” of climate activists with their heads in the clouds – plus Ed Miliband – thinks we could save consumers money by closing down all our gas power plants in the near future

Take gas away and you have a serious problem. We could store energy in lithium batteries or pumped storage reservoirs – but at a very high cost. We could theoretically use surplus power to generate hydrogen via electrolysis of water, store the hydrogen in underground caverns and burn it to generate power on windless and sunless days – except that the technology doesn’t yet exist on a commercial scale and when it does it is likely to be as expensive, if not more so, than lithium batteries. It certainly won’t be saving consumers money.
Rather than seeing gas a great evil, green lobbyists should see it for what it is: part of a system which has allowed us hugely to reduce carbon emissions from power generation over the past three decades. It has enabled us to all-but banish coal power plants – a form of energy which, gigawatt for gigawatt, produces around twice as many carbon emissions. And it has enabled the rollout of wind and solar by providing reliable back-up. Moreover, it may be possible in future to fit gas plants with carbon capture technology – although that won’t be cheap, either.
Green lobbyists are making themselves an irrelevance by turning against all fossil fuels in all circumstances. Governments may have nodded along with their demands up until now, by settingnet zero targets. But clearly, when ideology collides with reality, governments are not going to sacrifice the well-being of their citizens. The move to build new gas plants is yet one more sign of Europe’s retreat from unrealistic net zero targets.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/27/europes-net-zero-retreat-is-gathering-steam/

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Isle of Wight families struggle with soaring heating costs in ‘eco-friendly’ homes
MARCH 28, 2024

By Paul Homewood

h/t Patsy Lacey

“Angry and frustrated” parents say their young children are going cold as heating costs on an Isle of Wight housing estate skyrocket to ‘unaffordable’ rates.
Residents of Bluebell Meadows and St George’s Gate claim they have been ‘lied to’ and feel ‘let down’, having been promised cheap bills and houses which were economical to run.
Residents faced soaring costs
Despite the estate using a unique biomass heating system — a centralised system which burns wood chippings to provide heat and hot water to homes — those living there say they have faced soaring costs in recent months.
Those responsible for the estate — Barratt David Wilson Homes, the Isle of Wight Council and Sovereign Network Group, which together form the Pan Management Company — say the surge in prices “reflect the handover of the biomass centre” to the estate management company.
In a joint statement, they said they were looking at the fuel supply arrangements to try to help reduce costs.

Lack of proper answers Residents claim there has been a lack of “proper answers” and a meeting for residents arranged earlier this year was cancelled.
Mum-of-one, Amy, 28, is among those who have been calling for accountability.
In December, she said she was “mortified” to see her bills more than double, from £38 to £100 a month.
“There is only so much wrapping up in clothes and blankets you can do” Amy said residents were ‘trapped’ and could not switch energy providers.
She said,
“Like many others on the estate, one of the main reasons I purchased a new build Barratts home was because of their unique selling point – the homes were economically efficient to run and now I can certainly say that is not true.
“I understand bills are going up, I expected them to, but not this much. Me and my little one have been really ill this past winter and there is only so much wrapping up in clothes and blankets you can do.”
Another resident, Louise, says she has had to buy electric heaters for her house but still has to pay her standing charge, which like other prices, has risen.
She said,
“I just want to heat my house without having to worry how I would have to pay for it.”
Told biomass system was the “most economical choice”
Meanwhile, resident Tina said when she moved in four years ago she was told the biomass system was the “most economical choice”.
Now it is ‘just ridiculous’, she said, as there is no protection for residents as Pan Energy is not regulated with Ofgem, meaning there is no price capping.
https://onthewight.com/isle-of-wight-families-struggle-with-soaring-heating-costs-in-eco-friendly-homes/