This is ridiculous beyond madness (and comes from the Guardian this morning):
The government is struggling to pay for new clean energy supplies which could result in a rise in household bills or a major cut in investment in renewable technologies.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has already overspent its budget to support renewable energy projects over the next five years by £1.5bn, senior sources said.
Unless ministers increase the budget still further, the UK could struggle to meet legally binding commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
This is mad for four reasons.
First, it's mad because we need renewable energy.
Second, it's mad because renewable energy creates jobs in the UK and potential competitive advantage for UK business outside it.
Third, it's mad because we could find £375 billion of quantitative easing to bail out banks (which is what it achieved, even if it was not quite what was planned).
Fourth, it's mad because Green Infrastructure Quantitative Easing could, without a shadow of a doubt fund this programme at almost no net cost to society.
The argument that 'there is no money' is just not true. There is always money available to a government with its own central bank and a mechanism for repurchasing its own debt (which is what all QE does). To argue otherwise is to either deny the truth or turn a willing blind eye to it to achieve another political aim. It' up to you to decide which one is going on here.
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Exactly Richard -if the the bank QE money was ‘printed’ we KNOW there can be no other obstacle than pure ideology. It is as simple as that. I recently hear a Tory (though they all implicitly say it) MP repeat the “we’re living beyond our means ” mantra. We are living beyond our means BUT; IN EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE WAY that this mendacious scoundrel meant it-it’s resources that are the issue NOT MONEY.
I’m afraid the collective piss-take has brainwashed the benumbed public that now witlessly believes this unalloyed crap that there is a shortage of money. Never, in my life so far, have I seen the public become such a witless herd-and it frightens me, to be honest.
Why does the Govt prefer privatized utilities? The Daily Mail gives the game away by predicting the tasty price, in 2019, to be £5199 p.a. per household. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1194637/Era-5-000-year-energy–cost-household-power-soar-decade.html
Compare this to Germany (The Guardian 15th July 2015) “a family of four to heat their apartment can be €50 (£36) a year”. http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jul/12/14-ideas-that-could-save-labour
Or zero-energy social housing in Bridgend, reported by Professor Phil Jones today. “Their aim was to develop the technology so it could become as cheap as normal housebuilding.” http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/first-home-uk-generates-more-9664857
I wonder what the Wealth [Debt] Creators prefer?
Freiburg, Germany figure of €50 (£36) is space heating only, Bridgend house gives a surplus for all utilities requirements over a year. It is possible to have near zero-energy cost. Infrastructure and recurrent costs will be higher, and new battery technology will be required n the long run. New materials for efficient solar cells, such as perovskites, are very promising and can be printed directly on to exterior wall coatings (1 micron thick is sufficient), although the materials are not stable and currently contain metals such as lead. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smll.201402767/epdf
New “battery” (storage) technology is already in operation, in Germany as it happens.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/renewables/vanadium-redox-gaining-ground-in-energy-storage
Part of a not-so-long-term program to develop high-energy fast-release storage systems that is ongoing, worldwide. The UK governments sluggish attitude can only hasten the development/deployment of these, since fast development of anything except WMD is best left to people/industries that will make money out of them (I know Richard will disagree….but let gov provide orders and money and keep out of the science and engineering).
There are a few competing energy storage systems,such as Iron/Chromium flow storage batteries:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/the-smarter-grid/new-flow-battery-aims-to-replace-gas-plants
The money is heading towards small fusion reactors and Thorium-bed (etc) fission reactors as well..
Simply put; without large storage systems, renewables such as wind and solarPV are dead-in-the-water for anything other than domestic provision. You cannot operate industry on non-dispatchable power (yet)
You could also take a look at Germany and its high-priced energy that is doing a lot to drive producers away…
http://www.dw.com/en/high-energy-costs-may-drive-german-firms-to-us/a-16828773
I think fusion and storage are vital
“The price of Utilities 1 month (heating, electricity, gas …) for 2 people in 85m2 flat in Frankfurt am Main is €219”
http://www.expatistan.com/price/utilities/frankfurt-am-main
http://m.spiegel.de/international/germany/a-837007.html