UK’s new budget is the beginning of the end for renewables-based Net Zero
Thursday 16th March 2023 | Press Release
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London, 16 March – Net Zero Watch today gave a cautious welcome to the Chancellor’s Spring budget, which in addition to extending energy bill support for households, contains several significant announcements relating to energy supply:
1. £20 billion will be made available for Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS), allowing the continued use of low-cost and highly productive fossil fuels. (para 4.100)
2. Confirmation of the previously announced body, Great British Nuclear (GBN), to foster the development of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) (para 4.101).
3. Announcement of plans for a new framework for Control for Low Carbon Levies (CLCL), not updated since 2017. (para 4.102)
The sum allocated to carbon capture is substantial, and industrial interests such as Drax Power Station are already lobbying to receive some of this support to develop a proposal to capture the emissions arising from the burning of (mostly American) trees in its Yorkshire power station. However, it also opens the way for the construction of new coal-fired stations, and perhaps sophisticated gas-fired generators, without breaching the long-term Net Zero targets.
https://www.netzerowatch.com/uks-new-budget-is-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-renewables-based-net-zero/
