Press Gazette energy & environment journalist of the year 2022
Deputy Editor + Senior Policy Editor @CarbonBrief
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simon.evans@carbonbrief.org
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Apr 4 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
It seems @mattwridley thinks @Telegraph readers are idiots
Let's run the numbers:
244,000km2 = area of the UK
5-10% = share of UK Matt says would need to be covered with solar to meet electricity demand in June
40MW = solar capacity per km2
500-1,000GW = solar capacity, if covering 5-10% of UK
300% = share of total UK electricity demand that would be generated by 1,000GW of UK solar
650GW = current solar capacity of China, roughly half the global total
<30GW = actual UK summer peak demand
15GW = current solar capacity of UK, of which ~10GW ground mounted
0.1% = current solar land take
70GW = UK govt solar target, because no one thinks we can run the country on solar alone
<1% = future land take
>20% = reduction in UK gas imports if govt solar target is met
Zero = credibility of Matt's article
Sources:
Land requirement for UK solar 40MW per km2 = 6 acres per MW, based on current solar farms; as noted in the article, govt says future farms would need 2-3x less land
Despite all the UK govt rhetoric about "new gas", confirmation today in parliament that govt expects unabated gas to meet ~1% of demand in 2035
Minister @grahamstuart, responding to an urgent Q from @CarolineLucas, described new gas capacity as "back-up…sensible insurance"
1/
In the debate, we also saw the mask slip from former sec of state Jacob Rees-Mogg, who as a govt minister paid lip service to climate action (left) but now admits he wants to "postpone net-zero indefinitely" (right)
2/
Mar 11 • 10 tweets • 6 min read
🚨BREAKING🚨
UK emissions in 2023 fell to lowest since 1879, new @CarbonBrief reveals
💷Emissions now 53% below 1990, as GDP up 82%
❤️🔥Drop in 2023 largely unrelated to policy
⛰️Coal now lowest since 1730s (!)
🚗Transport is largest sector, then buildings
⚡️Power now likely emits less than farms🐄
1/
carbonbrief.org/analysis-uk-em…
UK emissions have now fallen in 25 of 34 yrs since 1990 – and pretty much every yr for past two decades
Latest 23MtCO2e (5.7%) reduction in 2023 takes UK territorial emissions down to 383MtCO2e, lowest since 1879 – when Queen Vic was on the throne
Clean energy is growing twice as fast as fossil fuels 2/
Global CO2 emissions rose again in 2023, but clean energy is slowing that growth like never before
Jan 24 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
Everything about Hinkley C is big…
£46bn – potential cost (2008 est = £9bn)
14yrs – potential delay (2031 vs 2017)
25TWh – expected output
10MtCO2 – CO2 saving, displacing gas
4% – share of UK 2030 Paris pledge
At risk – CO2 goals; EDF bottomline; Labour 2030 target
🧵
Let's start with cost
UK govt White Paper of 2008 estimated new 3.2GW (2*1.6) nuclear plant would cost £5.6bn, about £9bn in today's money
When agreed in 2018, it was £(2015 prices)18bn, ~£24bn in today's money
Now it's £(2015)31-35bn = up to £46bn today
Dec 11, 2023 • 13 tweets • 5 min read
BREAKING new #COP28 stocktake text
Fossil fuel "phase out" is GONE
Whole energy package is loose "actions that cld inc"
➡️refs renewables, CCS for "efforts twds substitution of unabated fossil fuels"
➡️loose 2050 timeline
➡️no methane target
Just to note before going further, this is now in hands of the presidency, which is expected at this stage
Nov 15, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
🇨🇳🇺🇸US-China climate statement
Some key highlights:
🌄backs goal to triple renewables by 2030
🏭links it to power sector CO2 cuts this decade
🏬mentions efficiency but not goal of doubling rate
🏗️agrees to "advance" 5x large CCS each by 2030
1/4
🇨🇳🇺🇸US-China climate statement
🔥pledges to include "actions/targets" on methane in their 2035 NDCs
(CN's recently released methane plan has actions but no numerical targets, so this wording is important)
2/4
Nov 1, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
FACTCHECK
Another Daily Telegraph comment by Michael Kelly, trustee of Tufton St climate-sceptic lobbyists the GWPF, fails to mention his affiliation
Under an obviously false headline, Kelly makes what appears to be a schoolboy error, confusing annual costs with total costs 🧵
Before looking at the schoolboy error, let's quickly show why the headline's false
Kelly refers to a Royal Society report (link) but fails to mention its key finding: UK really CAN get all its power from wind, solar + storage – for a "favourabl[e]" price
📉Global CO2 cld peak *AS SOON AS THIS YR*
⛰️Global fossil fuel use peak in 2025
🇨🇳China fossil fuel use peak in 2024 (!)
🌄Solar outlook for 2050 up 69% vs last yr (!)
🌡️Warming 2.4C (🔽 2.6C 2021 ⏬ 3.5C 2015)
Global fossil fuel use is set to peak ~2025, with coal (2022), oil (~2028) and gas (~2029) all peaking by 2030 under current govt policies, for the first time
@IEA warns of "overinvestment" + pushes back on calls for increased oil & gas spend
Sunak's cranked up risks to emissions cuts in buildings, transport & electricity
Contrary to Sunak, CCC says rollbacks "likely to incr…energy bills & motoring costs for hholds"
CCC blows a huge hole in Sunak's argument
He framed his rollbacks as removing "unacceptable costs" from "hard-working British ppl"
But CCC says he's INCREASED costs bc EVs are "significantly cheaper…to own & operate" & cancelling efficiency rules will cost renters £325/yr
Sep 28, 2023 • 17 tweets • 7 min read
A Tufton St guide to "honest debate" on net-zero
(aka how Civitas got embarrassingly wrong numbers into Sun, Mail, Times & Express)
1⃣Send to lobby journos, not specialists
2⃣Get Tufton St chums to write supportive comment
3⃣Trust editors to take crazy numbers at face value
🧵
A Tufton St guide to "honest debate" on net-zero (cont)
4⃣Pretend fossil-based tech is free
5⃣Ignore saving of buying less fossil fuel
6⃣Confuse MW & MWh so you can say wind costs £1,300,000/MWh (reality is £50-70/MWh)
7⃣Falsely assert gas power must close early & make up cost
Sep 26, 2023 • 23 tweets • 8 min read
NEW
Staying below 1.5C wld save $12tn & create more jobs than are lost, says @IEA
To get on track by 2030 we need…
🌄3x renewables
🏬2x efficiency
🚗"sharply" more EVs & heat pumps
🔥-75% methane emissions
🏭🔥⛽️-25% fossil fuel use
We need huge clean tech invst for 1.5C
We wld save even more by buying less fossil fuels
🤯$12tn by 2050🤯
This doesn't include climate or air quality benefits
Sep 21, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
FACTCHECK
Rishi Sunak claims he's saving families from "unacceptable costs" but he's actually going to cost renters £2bn/yr (by keeping their homes draughty) & drivers £6bn (bc EVs will be cheaper upfront by 2030 anyway)
Source for £2bn
The UK government has just quietly published estimates showing wind and solar will be several times cheaper than gas, for the foreseeable future
A few senior cabinet members (& a large section of the media) might like to take a look?
THREAD with charts + caveats
Here's another view of the data, showing the range of uncertainty – particularly around gas costs, given, er, volatile gas prices
(NB it isn't clear if these figures use post-gas-crisis gas price projections or not; if they haven't, then in reality gas'd look even worse)
Aug 2, 2023 • 13 tweets • 6 min read
FACTCHECK
UK PM Rishi Sunak has defended new North Sea oil & gas licences with false or misleading justifications
Yes, the world will continue to use oil & gas in 2050
But new licences are likely to raise global emissions & would not be compatible with the 1.5C limit
🧵 1) Sunak says "even in 2050 when we are net-zero…around a quarter of our energy needs will still come from oil and gas"
This could be more or less true (see following tweets) – but it's also complete misdirection
Let's take this point by point…
Jul 27, 2023 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
Your regular reminder that most estimates of "economically optimal" warming are bunkum:
Receipts in 🧵
Per the table, from USEPA, estimates of climate damages tend to simply ignore many major known sources of, er, climate damage, including temp/rain extremes, several potential tipping points etc etc etc
An ongoing thread of newspaper frontpages from around the world
1/ The Week
"Climate meltdown" 2/ The Times of India
"Rain toll in North rises to 69 as rivers overflow in many states"
Jul 4, 2023 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
FACTCHECK
The Daily Mail is running what looks set to be a week-long campaign against electric cars
One of its central claims is that EVs are "not green"
This is FALSE
The Mail's figures are from 2020, were debunked at the time & relate to a car that's been discontinued
🧵
The Daily Mail claims "VW's e-Golf becom[es] more environmentally friendly only after 77,000 miles, according to the manufacturer's own figures"
Problem 1: Production of the e-Golf was discontinued nearly three years ago, in December 2020
Jun 27, 2023 • 7 tweets • 4 min read
In light of *that* BBC News article on a North Sea oil and gas producer wanting to produce more oil and gas, here are a few home truths
1/4 UK oil production is in terminal decline, with or without new fields 2/ The same is true for the UK's North Sea gas production – because we burned most of it already