THE STRUGGLE TO ACHIEVE NET ZERO EMISSIONS
February 6, 2024
By Paul Homewood
h/t Hugh Sharman
C WorldWide are a global asset management company, so it’s a pretty good bet they know what they are talking about.
They have published this White Paper no Net Zero by Morten Springborg, theirGlobal Thematic Specialist
The key findings rather say it all:
https://www.cworldwide.com/media/vpqccp4a/the-struggle-to-achieve-net-zero-emissions.pdf
This paragraph is telling:
It also addresses the intensive demand for raw materials required for renewables:
Here are the conclusions:
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
It would be nice if they could spell ‘predominantly’.
Both are indistinguishable to a bot.
If the answer is fusion the timetable is forty years – and always will be.
It’s like reading a child’s homework, stating the bl**ding obvious, known to engineers for decades. The ‘Green economy’, taking investors money and vanishing. How many ‘miracle’ companies have taken investors money, rocketed briefly, then crashed as the smart people short the stock down to zero? Look at the charts of some of the battery companies. Hope they’re not in your pensions.
So true!
In fact you can almost guarantee Taxpayers money plus “Woke” committee’s putting workers superannuation into these nonsense investments. Some of these managers are openly boasting of putting money into virtuous investments. Of course the REAL money of Blackrock et al will be made selling this nonsense to the ordinary mugs and then buying their real assets when it all fails.
Yep. I invest in oil, gas and coal companies. Fuels of the future that pay fat dividends. Many are silly cheap at the moment as the fashion followers shun them. However, the reality is the world needs what they provide, and they just keep paying fat dividends until reality lifts their prices.
If Drax is anything to go by the whole net zero scam can only end up in farce. They are already emitting more CO2 and other, genuinely polluting, gases than they would be by using the coal they are sitting on while at the same time spongeing off the taxpayer to the tune of billions.
The wind farm cabal are no better.
The hilarious part of this report is the definition of “sustainable”. As Humpty put it, “when I use a word it means what I want it to mean, neither more nor less”. Intermittent power supply is not “sustainable” in an advanced civilisation and neither is net zero even assuming it were feasible.
Until we find a non-CO2-emitting replacement for oil the vast majority of everyday products essential to the lifestyle we have and which other countries quite rightly aspire to will be manufactured using CO2-emitting raw materials. And since CO2 is an essential trace gas (I assume that even JSO activists understand the meaning of the word), attempting to interfere with it is stupid and over the long-term almost certainly pointless.
Well said.
Peter Foster: Sustainable Newspeak by 2050 https://financialpost.com/opinion/peter-foster-sustainable-newspeak-by-2050
“Perhaps the most significant new weasel word to have emerged from the UN’s equivalent of the Ministry of Truth is “sustainable.” Commitment to sustainability is now mouthed by every politician, bureaucrat, marketing executive and media hack on Earth. It sounds so benign, so reasonable, but what it actually means is “bureaucratically controlled and NGO-enforced within a UN-based socialist agenda.”
Like the word ‘social,’ ‘sustainable’ tends to vitiate or reverse the meaning of words to which it is attached. Thus ‘sustainable’ development is development retarded by top-down control”
Foster is correct, but he should add the word “security” to his list. As in “food security” or “water security” or “energy security.” It means negation the same as the others, with remote, bureaucratic government control.
Positively Orwellian.
The sooner leaders work out that the chronic limitations of weather-based electricity production will never go away, the better.
Reality bites in New Zealand
January 2024 – the first month without rebates – shows a market adjustment following an extremely high number of EV registrations in December 2023. The EV numbers in January were the lowest since May 2021.
https://evdb.nz/ev-stats
December 2023 a Lawson boom in NZ EV sales?
There is a new government in New Zealand. What is their position on electric cars? A man was telling me and others standing round his market stall in Christchurch that there was a new tax on electric cars after the last government encouraged people to buy them to ‘Save the Planet’
Paging Ed Miliband…
it is also time to understand that the fossil fuel road in the world of 8 billion people is equally unsustainable and incompatible with human development in poor countries, global warming or not. The reason is simple: not enough fossil fuels to go around.
If one wanted to extend North American use of oil per capita to 8 billion people, the world oil production would have to increase by ~600%. To the EU level, ~300%. The result of the world running on fossil fuels is downward pressure on living standards in the developed world and a lid on development in the developing world. Both lead to political instability and inherent conflict, finally transitioning into war.
The West needs to lead the way and relentlessly transition away from fossil fuels. It is our obligation, given that we are richer and more capable. It is also good for us. Solar and wind can be too intermittent. Nuclear, maybe geothermal are not. Anything that can work.
Do not listen to “drill, baby drill” fantasy. Numbers don’t lie, check them for yourself.
As and when the alternative becomes available or some new processes are invented or mankind’s in-built ingenuity comes to the rescue as it has for centuries then we will no longer need to use fossil fuels but you cannot force human progress.
It was OPEC leader Sheikh Yamani who said during the oil crisis of the mid-70s that “the Stone Age didn’t end because we ran out of stones and what we might call the Oil Age will not end because we run out of oil.” We don’t know what the future will bring but we do know that trying to control the weather or run a modern economy on intermittent energy sources or dictate to nature what the “correct” level of atmospheric trace gases is is a uniquely dangerous combination of ignorance and hubris.
“Anything that can work” is the correct answer — but only if you mean “anything”!
No-one expects the world to attempt to consume North American levels of oil. However, by concentrating on net zero renewables we have taken our foot off the pedal of learning how to use resources more efficiently. Indeed, plans for CCS would impose a substantial degradation of the efficiency of fuel use. These things matter enormously. An old coal fired power station compared with a modern one uses 1.5 times as much fuel. We could run gas efficiently at close to 60% efficiency, or we could use it inefficiently with CCS at 30% efficiency or less, using twice the gas in stop start mode. We have stopped development of ICE engines that were steadily becoming more fuel efficient, substantially reducing the demand for oil. Aviation research is being switched to alternative fuels, instead of more economical use of avtur. Nuclear power has been back burnered and saddled with needless costs to try to suppress it. We’re now embarking on a thermodynamically insane programme of promoting hydrogen manufacture and use.
There is an awful lot we could be doing to improve the lot of mankind on the planet that net zero is getting in the way of, and those gains can translate to rising living standards for all without increasing energy consumption. While the West still retains some ingenuity and inventiveness it should be maximising those efforts. War is a very big energy consumer: best to avoid having the natives feeling restless, whether it be farmers in the EU or Sri Lanka, or anyone else being squashed by the green elite. They are the ones who will face the tumbrils in the end.
It’s not just thermodynamically insane; it’s socially insane. Who in their right mind would let the average householder loose with a hydrogen-powered central heating or cooking system.
There are plenty of instances of what can happen with natural gas; multiply that tenfold both in frequency and intensity ….. The short-term effects of current proposals across the board (in this and other fields) are likely to be considerably more damaging than any putative long-term consequences of a degree or two increase in temperature or a few more parts per million of atmospheric CO2.
Sieg Heil.
C’mon, Ray. mf is not a Nazi.
He’s worse: a communist.
Bear in mind there is twenty times as much coal in the world as there is oil. We in the UK have an enormous resource of coal under the North Sea, 23 trillion tonnes of it.
Also look up “kerogen” on Wikipedia. 10,000 trillion tonnes of it in Earth’s crust. It is the precursor to oil and gas.
It depends on whether we have the stomach for the environmental damage it would all cause.
Hello mf,
You write, “The West needs to lead the way and relentlessly transition away from fossil fuels. It is our obligation, given that we are richer and more capable.” This deserves several comments:-
Regards, John.
Garbage. Complete garbage. Do people not learn from the endless and always wrong peak oil predictions? Living standards in developing countries are rising, rising slowly in the developed wild because of moronic intervention by government along the lines you suggest. Just childish assertions based on equally childish ignorance.
The communists like mf intend to crush humanity to the lowest common denominator. Cos reasons.
these are simple numbers. Grade school math. Educate yourself.
Sorry, mf, we are not going to allow you to commit mass murder.
I think you need help.
Yes, mf. From freedom lovers everywhere.
A opinion, not a fact. It has been unsustainable for a century now, with this time we really mean it occurring every decade or so.
The fact is nobody knows how much fossil fuel there is, therefore presenting a conclusion based on no evidence is invalid. People are entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts.
no, it is not an opinion, but a fact. Find US oil use per capita and scale it up. Do the same for EU. What is exactly possible is a legitimate question, but you can observe production trends and reasonably estimate what is possible.
Peak oil is thought of, in popular culture, as empty gas stations and “Mad Max” societal collapse. Instead, as long as oil is subject to market forces, oil products become progressively more expensive, with prices becoming more volatile because of narrow supply/demand balance. What this translates into in the “West” is steady, downward pressure on living standards. In the developing world, this translates into an invisible lid on development. Both lead to political destabilization. You may not feel these forces personally, as long as you end up on the right side of the tracks. There are just fewer and fewer of us on the right side of the tracks, hence we get Donald Trump at least partly because of these forces.
‘Taking intermittent electricity production above a certain threshold in the grid leads to rising electricity prices and instability and potential blackouts of the grid’.
Can that utterly damning sentence be tattooed on every pro Net Zero MP’s forehead?
Branded using an iron heated on a coal fire perhaps.
Oct 4, 2023 CO2 , The Gas of Life”- by Dr. William Happer
Dr. Happer questioned current dogma about climate change by presenting scientific data and theory which question the underlying assumptions of conventional wisdom. He knows he is a controversial figure. Dr. Happer worked in various capacities for the Bush and Trump administrations.
“C WorldWide are a global asset management company, so it’s a pretty good bet they know what they are talking about.”
You are more optimistic than I am.
Stop decarbonization .it is a scam.
How do they define Emissions? ‘First define your terms’… is what I learned in my studies.
I would also like someone to define Asset Management , please.
Who writes their brochures I wonder.
Maybe an advertising agency!
“…<em> the decarbonization of our energy systems continues to progress too slowly.</em>”
Note the “too slowly” part. This could have more than one meaning.
Does the writer believe Global Warming is a crisis and CO2 the culprit? And therefore more needs to be done – fast.
OR:
Does the writer and the investment advisors look at the Net Zero campaign and plan on investing with all the rules (more coming) and related schist in place for the next 50 years?
It’s very frustrating that all we hear about in the MSM is politicians fighting over whether/where Labour can find their £28Billion.
From the article:
“Decarbonizing our energy systems is progressing too slowly”
Where is the fact-based risk assessment that supports the requirement to decarbonize energy systems?
“Decarbonizing our energy systems…”
That used to mean taking the car to the garage after every three thousand miles for a “decoke.”
more climate b*ll*cks from the Grauniad this week
Ancient sea sponges at centre of controversial claim world has already warmed by 1.7C | Marine life | The Guardian
Hurricanes becoming so strong that new category needed, study says | Hurricanes | The Guardian
World ‘not prepared’ for climate disasters after warmest ever January | Climate crisis | The Guardian
A warm January because of a huge El Nino yet where exactly were these climate effects?
There are 3 interesting youtube videos on how the US electricity grid was turned from a public service into a commodity by the likes of Enron where generation has been reduced so that grid failure is now a risk.
Why watch silly Left-wing conspiracy theory videos?
The fall in demand for Electric Vehicles is all Rowan Atkinson’s fault.
Rowan Atkinson blamed for poor electric car sales
House of Lords report suggests that the Mr Bean actor was partly at fault for ‘damaging’ public perceptions of EVs
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/06/rowan-atkinson-blamed-for-poor-electric-car-sales-by-peers/
The fact they’re sh1te has nothing to do with it
Much as one is sure many an ennobled type might be able to wire a plug, they might ponder what Mr. Atkinson’s BSc and MSc are in. As a clue, not a Milipedian PPE.
Totalitarians hate free speech.
Sad Icky Khant and GLC/TFL caught out with untruths in their pollution and ULEZ advertising by the ASA in their weekly judgements issued today
Greater London Authority – ASA | CAP
Transport For London – ASA | CAP
Guido have picked up on this and this give more info and examples
Advertising Watchdog Rules ULEZ Ads “Misleading” and “Unsubstantiated” – Guido Fawkes (order-order.com)
DIdn’t see this on the telly, lots of photos from the actions
https://joannenova.com.au/2024/02/farmers-win-major-eu-backdown-on-farming-emissions-and-regulations/
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/fact-check-tim-spectors-frightening-climate-claims/
Spector really is an odd nutter. The BBC let him make absurd and wholly untrue claims without any pushback whatsoever. I saw another nutter, Fergal Sharkey on the BBC at lunchtime making wholly false claims about water pollution, despite the dacts being easily obtainable and despite Sharkey having been corrected on social media numerous times. We are barrages constantly by lies.
Now we have all this wonderful nuclear generated electricity, how do we get it to the point of use?
The grid infrastructure has to be extended always ahead of increased electricity input.
There is insufficient copper ore mining capacity to provide for all the copper needed to wire together our all electric World. This will drive copper prices to unaffordable levels when/if grid expansion gets under way.
And eventually someone will come up with an effective alternative to copper or an alternative process which by-passes the need for it.
Yes they will, because that is precisely what mankind has being doing for centuries — finding a way round obstacles to his chosen lifestyle, from inventing the wheel to developing a cheap, efficient way of using that wheel as an improvement on the horse and cart.
Every time we hit a wall some fool who thinks he knows better climbs over that wall and proves he’s not a fool after all. Just “ahead of his time”.
” And eventually someone will come up with an effective alternative to copper or an alternative process which by-passes the need for it. “
For transmission, aluminium can be used, but the use of aluminium creates its own problems.
This is elementary stuff offering no further insight into current decarbonisation nonsense and absolutely no acknowledgement that there is no need for it at all.
In reality, net zero will never be reached, it’s like trying to build a Penrose triangle, but then again, net zero is all about stealth taxes so a few more billions will pass to globalists before the masses say enough
Let’s not forget that ‘traditional biomass’ as the lying alarmists call the wood, sugar cane stalks, dung, environmental destruction by those without electricity produces THREE TIMES the global energy from panels and windmills. Eh? Then look at the Keeling Curve from COP1 in Berlin in 1995 to now and see if you can spot the slightest tweak in the idiosyncratic sawtooth caused by the COVID deindustrialisation? No? Oh dear. Looks like (a) much is natural ( b) there’s not the slightest smidgeon of a chance that ‘the West’ will have any effect on the steady climb. Relax
THIS ARTICLE IS A “SALES” DOCUMENT to attract investment. See last page