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Climate Change: Green Energy Would Not Hike Up Household Bills, Says Climate Committee

Climate Change Low Carbon

First Posted: 15/12/11 08:57 Updated: 15/12/11 09:19   PA

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Claims that investment in wind farms and other low-carbon technologies will add dramatically to the cost of typical household energy bills over the next decade are untrue, the Government's climate advisers said.

Policies to achieve a low-carbon economy will add a further £110 to dual fuel bills in 2020 with scope to offset this rise if energy efficiency can be further improved through measures such as more efficient lighting and appliances, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) said.

The independent body, which advises the Government on preparing for the impact of climate change, added that wholesale gas prices were "by far" the largest contributor to rises in average household dual fuel bills between 2004 and 2010.

An analysis of households by the committee predicted that the combined gas and electricity bill for the typical household could increase from £1,060 in 2010 to £1,250 in 2020 if there is "limited" success in implementing energy efficiency measures.

The committee said its "best estimate" was that green policies would add a further £110 to bills in 2020 - made up of £100 to support investments in low-carbon power generation, with £10 needed to support energy efficiency measures such as smart meters.

The committee said there was still scope for further energy efficiency improvement through projects such as loft and wall cavity insulation and more efficient energy use of lighting and household appliances.

The projected 2020 bill could be reduced to £1,085 per household - roughly at 2010 levels - if these were successfully implemented, it said.

An analysis of the average dual fuel energy bills for a typical household showed an increase of £455 from around £605 in 2004 to £1,060 in 2010 but more than 80% of this rise was unrelated to low-carbon measures, the CCC said.

The biggest contributor to the rise was wholesale gas prices, which added around £290 to bills, with around £75 due to policies that reduce carbon emissions.

David Kennedy, CCC chief executive, said the committee had analysed the impact of investment in low-carbon power technologies including offshore and onshore wind, nuclear and carbon capture and storage. He said the cost of investing in low-carbon power technologies was "significantly" outweighed by the benefits, including a reduced reliance by the UK on imported fossil fuels.

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Claims that investment in wind farms and other low-carbon technologies will add dramatically to the cost of typical household energy bills over the next decade are untrue, the Government's climate adv...
Claims that investment in wind farms and other low-carbon technologies will add dramatically to the cost of typical household energy bills over the next decade are untrue, the Government's climate adv...
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hautchamps13
6 Fans
12:54 on 18/01/2012
Nowhere in the costings for green energy have I seen the energy audit for making the wind farms. They do not just grow, they need energy for manufacture, for raw materials and for construction. Some figures, on the web indicate that this energy need is equal to 3 years of output, As the windmills only last 10 years, that means that for 30% of their lives, they are breaking even. That does not include the energy costs of taking them down at the end and 'recycling' them. If they are so good, why are we paying around 12% of our gas and electrc bills in 'green taxes' to build them? Why is there so much of an outcry about the subsidies being cut if they are so good?

We still need conventional plant for when the wind does not blow. Why no Severn Barrage, The Rance river was dammed in France 40 years ago and has produced gigawatts of clean power. Tides come in and out every day, unlike unreliable wind. The barrage would probably cost the same as a conventional power plant and is predicted to produce up to 5% of our energy needs. How about it?
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yeti7
not bigfoot
163 Fans
23:46 on 08/01/2012
They show the base of these wind-turbines in the photos. You know why? Cause the ground below is littered with bird and bat corpses.
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fireofenergy
Promote freedom AND science
159 Fans
17:04 on 02/01/2012
Robotic factories are needed to make all the RE parts including batteries (very much) cheaper. Additional installation jobs would be the result. If that is not enough, the world must redevelop the liquid fluoride thorium reactor (which is safer and inherently meltdown proof).
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yeti7
not bigfoot
163 Fans
23:46 on 08/01/2012
robotic factories = jobs ?
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oobuc5
8 Fans
11:47 on 01/01/2012
If the off shore wind farms stand more than 3 miles out to sea does that mean that they would not be liable to the British tax system ? if so how many are there outside of the tax system .
And with the changes in the law with regard to the British coastline how do these changes affect the revenue from the wind farms just on the shore boundaries ?it seems just lately that with all of the activity with offshore power generation things are changing for our coastline boundaries ,i cant help but think that the greedy fingers of the government are at it again :
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oobuc5
8 Fans
11:03 on 01/01/2012
Of course the wind mills would not put the price of electricity up ,the only time that would happen is if the government took away all of the green grants and or the tax incentives that goes with green energy ,i mean that would be the same as taking away all of the incentive from solar panels and solar farms ,the whole industry would collapse would it not throwing thousands out of work ,and as a result the price of solar panels would have to go up would it not ? if the price went up plus the 5% rise in vat the only people to benefit would be the government with an increased revenue plus they would be saving money in grants and tax incentives ,and then they would be protecting their future revenue,s from the big six big energy suppliers :
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oobuc5
8 Fans
10:46 on 01/01/2012
THE PRICE OF GREEN
Take the word green in the old days it was seen as old hippies saving the planet with weird ideas
Then we had some bright sparks in the government and the EEC who took a long look at it and decided to turn it into a corporate enterprise ,but never doing anything much to solve the problems.
take the particle filter ,on the face of it its a great idea ,but then what happens to all of that soot / carbon where does it all go ? ,how much soot / carbon is generated by a 14 ltr diesel truck ? anyone done the numbers ? that truck has cover tens of thousands of miles a year ,how many times do they have empty that particle filter /and how much is in it ? with thousands of garages emptying these soot filters where is it all going ? what are they doing with it ?. for all we know they could be dumping it down some old mine shaft or dumping it into a landfill .

It seems the government is taking the revenue and telling us its for cleaner air [or to try to stop the EEC from fining them millions for not bringing it in sooner ] but they are short on telling us what is done with the residue of millions of diesel vehicles ,just where is it going ?
Just who got the franchise for that one !
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oobuc5
8 Fans
11:28 on 27/12/2011
with the ever increasing price hikes in the power industry the sale of wood burners is on the up ,people are starting to go back to the old ways ,wood burners with boiler units save a fortune on heating and hot water bills ,but what happens if tens of thousands of people take it up ,would the the government bring in green taxes like forcing you to have an mot and catalytic converters fitted and particle filters,or introduce a smokeless zone ,you bet they would ,
In a country where big business gives millions in party funding to get there man elected ,Joe Blogs has no chance ,,it would seem to me that the banks and the power companies own the country.
and the only money in green is to tax it ,and cut all tax incentives that are involved with it, that way you can protect your markets for the future.
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Kenz300
1537 Fans
21:03 on 24/12/2011
The price of oil and coal keep rising. The cost of the nuclear disaster is astronomical.

The price of wind and solar keep dropping and get cheaper every year as volumes of production increase and economies of scale kick in.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
MikeWebster
Always happy.
995 Fans
03:09 on 20/12/2011
If you put this relatively modest cost of about 10% current prices, next to the massive increases in gas prices, it just shows another reason for moving to green energy. It will actually reduce costs in the mid term.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
mhh310351
Roosevelt Democrat
162 Fans
21:40 on 19/12/2011
I don't mind paying extra for green energy for my home.

That being said, I feel different paying extra for green industrial electricity knowing I'm competing against cheap dirty coal energy manufactured products from fast developing.

Like Solyndra in California, a Massachusetts corporation, Evergreen Solar, announced it would file bankruptcy in August. Another August bankruptcy announcement came from solar company SpectraWatt which shut down last year. I can't compete against cheap dirty coal!

Anyone have a solution? Should we all go back to farming?
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maxwells
181 Fans
17:29 on 25/12/2011
International Business Caveat: it's a "no-holds barred" world out there.

China's solar PV manufacturers are "dumping" and undercutting U.S. competition; thus, solar panel prices are falling through the floor. No telling who'll survive the shake out. But I wouldn't bet on U.S. companies not deploying 3rd or 4th generation technology.

And Chinese companies may disrespect international patent law, or haven't you noticed?

E.g., perhaps Sinovel (major Chinese wind turbine manufacturer) bribed someone at American Superconductor (AMSC) to show them how to make the conductive windings around the low-weight niobium magnetic core used for drive shafts for giant wind turbines.
At least that's what AMSC claims in their law suit filings.

The lower the nacelle (hub) weight is, the thinner and lighter the turbine tower can be, a key advantage.

Sinovel was AMSC's biggest customer, accounting for 3/4th of their revenue.
Early this year, AMSC stock was in the low 30's and climbing. Today AMSC is ~$4.

http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/AMSC.O/key-developments/article/2401072
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
mhh310351
Roosevelt Democrat
162 Fans
03:40 on 26/12/2011
I've written & filed about 5 process patents in the last 3 years my company has chosen to keep them as trade secrets because of this.
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slinkybro
64 Fans
19:01 on 19/12/2011
Which one is it: "Green Energy Would Not Hike Up Household Bills, Says Climate Committee" or
'Policies to achieve a low-carbon economy will add a further £110 to dual fuel bills in 2020"? And people wonder why there are climate change skeptics.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
mhh310351
Roosevelt Democrat
162 Fans
21:41 on 19/12/2011
It will raise bills!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
MikeWebster
Always happy.
995 Fans
03:12 on 20/12/2011
Climate change skeptics are in denial. I think you've pointed out a problem in wording here - which has to do with the paper, not the science of climate change.

It's clear from the article though, that the costs are rising much quicker for gas, than even the first additions of green power. So Green energy does look like a money saver.
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Kenz300
1537 Fans
17:22 on 17/12/2011
It is time to transition to safe, clean alternative energy.

Wind, solar, geothermal, wave energy and second generation biofuels made from cellulose, algae, and waste materials are the future of clean energy production.

The world produces a lot of trash and waste every day. That waste can not be turned into biofuels, energy (methane gas) and raw materials for products. This solves two problems. One is what to do with all the waste that we generate and the other is how to produce cheap energy. Since the waste is already being collected and need to be disposed it is a cheap input to the energy process.
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slinkybro
64 Fans
18:56 on 19/12/2011
Won't burning trash create CO2?
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Kenz300
1537 Fans
20:29 on 19/12/2011
Creating biofuels is different than burning trash.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
MikeWebster
Always happy.
995 Fans
03:13 on 20/12/2011
Burning some trash would. Burning organic matter that isn't a fossil fuel, does not increase atmospheric concentrations of CO2.
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oobuc5
8 Fans
12:53 on 17/12/2011
it could be me but nuclear /coal /gas all cost money to process to use as fuel,wind is free you have to pay for the windmills and maintain them but it has to cheaper than the above !
trouble comes in lost revenue for the governments from the other 3 ,so why is it the governments are taking away the green incentives?,if there was a genuine believe in CO2 reduction we would have more incentive ,or is that just me ?
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banana republican
Provoking Progressives with unwelcome perspectives
400 Fans
00:33 on 17/12/2011
How can this be true. Obama promised it would dramatically increase electricity prices and that this would be a good thing?
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oobuc5
8 Fans
12:24 on 17/12/2011
Americans = corporate management if it good for the corporation its good for the government .
I watched a docu once it was on the american defense budget and a bloke said that they had a bloke in charge of procurement and he would buy anything they called him horseshit harry !
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CanadaStan
Cogito ergo spud, I think, therefore I yam
132 Fans
16:33 on 16/12/2011
If this is what passes for logic in the UK, no wonder they are circling the bowl.
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oobuc5
8 Fans
13:01 on 17/12/2011
ah Canada that the place that had 2 electric car mfgs and then changed the goal posts on legislation and strung it out so long one company went bust and i dont know what happened to the other one.
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maxwells
181 Fans
16:27 on 18/12/2011
Canadastan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan.

Seems like none of them CanUnnerstan progress.

Ontheotherhand, it may just be some vested interest in tar sands and the frackin' pipeline that drives the former.
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oobuc5
8 Fans
11:04 on 30/12/2011
made me smile .
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