You don’t have to be a faithful follower of the net-zero advocates to believe that reducing the UK’s dependence on imported hydrocarbons and encouraging others to do likewise is an economic imperative.
There is a mountain of evidence that the possession of hydrocarbon wealth is responsible for corruption, aggression, repression, economic mismanagement; it undermines enterprise in countries that are “blessed” with it. These include Russia, Iran, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, for whom it has financed extravagance for the few while helping to create misery for the many. The other losers are the hard-working and entrepreneurial people of countries that have to overpay for their energy.
Renewable energy has made an important contribution to reducing the UK’s dependence on hydrocarbons. But it can never be more than a partial solution. Despite falling costs and improving technology, output is limited by the unreliability of the weather and the challenge of low-cost storage. Expensive back-up generation is needed, as well as a reliable base-load supply.
