New PPSs confirmed for DESNZ… @jeevunsandher.bsky.social @tomhayesmp.bsky.social @stevewitherdenmp.bsky.social Source: Guardian live blog

🔥🔥🔥Newspaper frontpages🔥🔥🔥

This isn't news, but it's still a shocking sign of what Elon Musk has done to the platform formerly know as Twitter 2 identical posts 2x as many followers on X as on Bsky 100x more engagement on Bsky than on X

Today, almost all new electricity is coming from clean energy Once clean-energy growth consistently exceeds demand, fossil-fuel power will start to decline Source: IEA

Renewables are now the world's largest source of electricity – and the main source of new supplies

This is a type of private members bill and it could, in theory, become legislation But it is very rare for these motions to succeed www.instituteforgove... electoral-reform.org... The Tory move is therefore only symbolic (and perhaps not in the way they imagine)

The Conservatives have already pledged to repeal the Act, if elected IfG's Jill Rutter previously told CB this was "rejecting" a Conservative "inheritance" on climate change Conservative peer Lord Gummer said "it was the Tories who wrote [the Act]" www.carbonbrief.org/...

NEW: The opposition Conservatives are making a symbolic attempt to repeal the UK's Climate Change Act It will be debated on 2 September, after summer recess (and a series of deadly heatwaves)

What is this strange feeling…is it…a cool breeze?? And those things in the sky…?

The cap on EUETS emissions was due to hit zero by 2039… …but the European Commission's 17 July 2026 plan would delay that by around a decade (chart from Oeko Institut)

The UK's June heatwave caused a £2.4bn hit to productivity, says a new report It says the cost of extreme heat could reach £6bn/yr by 2030 Interesting, bc we tend to focus on the cost of cutting emissions, rather than cost of failing to do so… www.verdantthinking....

NEW: Eight facts about air conditioning amid an overheated global debate KEY FACT: Many European cities, on the world's fastest-warming continent, never needed AC in the past For some strange reason – I can't imagine why – many commentators prefer to ignore this

Exactly! Just took this. Some already shriveled and fly blown…

A final word, the Times implies the CCC didn’t think about households without access to off-street parking, but the CCC did, of course, consider this – and highlighted the need for govt intervention

I am not an expert on finance, so I asked Gemini (3.5 pro) to look at the investment case It says the Return on Investment for the £15k “eco” home upgrade is “phenomenal”, at 12% But I guess that wouldn’t make such a good Times headline?

At 4%, the interest on the higher upfront “eco” upgrade costs is roughly £600 That’s the difference between the £1,800 annual savings & £1,200 figure quoted by the Times So the “eco” home would still pay off upfront costs after ~12yrs (not 25)

This means the extra £15k “eco” home upgrade cost will be paid back in about 8yrs*, not the 25 years in the Times headline (*but since we’re being pernicketty, I will look at interest costs too, in next post)

A more accurate accounting for the “eco” upgrade is the net upfront cost (fossil-fueled minus low-carbon) But this is only £15,000, BORING! Next, we would look at the running cost savings, which are in fact £1,800, not £1,200

The online version of the article makes two further errors, which are revealing 1) it describes the analysis, from the independent CCC, as “the government says” 2) it states incorrectly that the CCC analysis “doesn’t factor in upfront costs”

Next, the Times takes the CCC figure for annual savings from the “eco” home, which is £1,200 Sadly the Times does not mention – or apparently realise – that this ALREADY INCLUDES the higher upfront costs of heat pumps & solar panels So they’re counting upfront costs twice!

The Times adds up the “eco” tech to a total of £30,000… …but ignores the cost of fossil-fuelled alternatives, which come to £15,000 So, yes, an “eco-home” upgrade would cost £30k (as long as petrol cars and gas boilers are free – and they last forever)

The Times article is based on a CCC report, which found that low-carbon homes could save £1,200 a year It says the CCC assumed a used EV, costing £12,639, a heat pump £7,717 after grant, etc But the Times ignores the cost of petrol cars and gas boilers…implying they are free!

FACTCHECK: A guide to manufacturing headlines, by the Times 1) highlight upfront costs of an “eco” home (EV, heat pump, solar) 2) pretend that petrol cars and gas boilers are free (yes really) 3) count upfront “eco” costs twice, for good measure 4) that’s it!

Did you know? Renewables have just overtaken coal as the world's largest source of electricity 34% – global renewable share, up 2x in 20yrs 48% – EU 37% – China 26% – US 24% – India

RENEWABLES: They're still wildly popular with the British public, not that you'd realise from news coverage * Only 4% are opposed Even for wind/solar farms in your local area, opposition is very low * 74/68% would either be happy to have a local solar/wind farm, or don't care

UPDATE: The govt has released further details (ish) showing that DESNZ will find £2bn of savings over 4yrs for defence, with transport finding £0.8bn savings from road spending DESNZ will "protect the clean power mission" More details "by Autumn" www.gov.uk/government/p...

PPS I should add, the Sunday Times already reported in early June that Starmer was looking to cut funding for "projects such as CCS" to pay for higher defence spending

PS I am a bit unclear on how that £9.4bn is being spread over 5yrs, any pointers let me know In 2026/27, DESNZ is spending £2.8bn on CCUS, which is much more than 1/5th of £9.4bn Front-loaded contracts?

DESNZ is already spending a bunch on CCUS… (NB the apparent expansion in 26/27 partly down to Sizewell C not being there, so CCUS is a larger share of a smaller pie)

And you can see from the Spending Review doc that a chunk of this was for carbon capture projects = £9.4bn over the spending review period of 5yrs (£1.9bn/yr) assets.publishing.se...