Nigel Farage and Bob Ward clash on climate change on GB News
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The Prime Minister is said to be set to unveil his plans for a carbon-free national grid amid an energy crisis sparked by rising gas prices. As part of the Paris Agreement on climate change, the UK has committed to becoming a net-zero nation by 2050 and phasing out fossil fuels from the energy sector will mark a major step towards this goal. The Government aims to do so by investing in renewables like wind and solar, as well as nuclear energy.
According to a report in The Times, Boris Johnson will outline his plans at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, which is being held this week.
Data published by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) shows renewable energy sources supplied about 43 percent of the nation’s electricity demands.
Coal and gas accounted for about 40 percent and the rest of the demand was met by nuclear power.
The Prime Minister appears confident the Government will “deal with the cost of electricity and energy” by increasing the UK’s “clean energy generation”.
Doing so will require expanding the renewables sector with more offshore wind farms and provide a “baseload” that can cope with shifting demand for electricity and intermittent output.
Experts have previously told Express.co.uk the varying output of wind and solar make them unfeasible competitors to fossil fuels.
Mr Johnson, however, believes investing in a green Britain will help protect customers and bring down bills in the long run.
He said: “Dealing with the cost of electricity and energy [is one of] the long-term things that government has got to do.
“We’ve got to get back into nuclear, we’ve got to increase our clean energy generation.
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“That will bring the cost of energy down and bring down the cost of transport.”
The news, however, was met with a great deal of scepticism, particularly over fears the transition to carbon-free energy will hit consumers in the pocket.
The Prime Minister’s comments have been slammed as “wishful thinking” and “impossible” by angry social media users who fear the cost of going green.
Bob Wallace, under the username @Bob_in_NYorks, tweeted: “This sounds like another Boris Island, Garden Bridge and Irish Sea Tunnel. He speaks nonsense.”
Another Twitter user, @misterp55, said: “So, like the 68 percent and 78 percent he’s plucked another target out of the @CCCuk’s sixth Carbon Budget balanced pathway, but without agreeing the pathway, ie how he’s going to do it. #BlahBlahBlah”
With winter just around the corner, there is a growing concern the UK could be headed into a full-blown health and energy crisis.
Experts are concerned that the NHS could be overwhelmed this season with a mix of flu and Covid if people are unable to heat their homes.
Britons have also been told they could face a £2,500 bill as the Government looks to phase out gas boilers in favour of eco-friendly heat pumps.
Gas boilers presently account for about 15 percent of the UK’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions – the leading cause of global warming.
Millions of people are already facing increased gas and electricity bills as of Friday, after a 12 percent increase in the cap on energy prices.
Britons who are not on fixed-price deals will, consequently, pay £139 extra a year.
The Prime Minister has vowed to quadruple the UK’s offshore wind electricity output from 10GW a year by the end of the decade.
However, he thinks this could go up to as much as 60GW a year further down the line.
He said: “That will bring down the cost of energy, the cost of transport, the cost of housing.”
The UK is also building two new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset, which will produce more than three gigawatts of energy.
And the Government is expected to give the okay for the construction of two new nuclear power stations.
At present, Britain’s nuclear power plants provide about 17 percent of the country’s electricity needs but about half of the capacity is to be reduced by 2025.
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