Farmer Blenkiron
By Paul Homewood
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-65099546
That BBC report yesterday featured Farmer Blenkiron:
As well as extreme heat, rainfall has been consistently low for parts of south and southeast England, affecting crop yields.
Andrew Blenkiron’s 6,000-acre (24 sq km) farm in Thetford, Norfolk saw just 2.4mm of rain in February compared to the local average for that month of 43mm. He has now been forced to cut back on plans to plant potatoes, onions, parsnips and carrots by around a fifth.
He said: "Farmers are at the very forefront of climate change on a day-to-day basis… we are used to working with these issues, but we are concerned with the extremes we are now facing."
To cope with the impacts of extreme heat Mr Blenkiron has enlarged reservoirs on his farm and shifted harvesting patterns to prevent wildfires.
But he said that farmers needed more money from government to implement their climate plans, especially if they involved new infrastructure projects like reservoirs.
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As I guessed at the time, he was no ordinary farmer, picked at random by the BBC. It turns out that he is the NFU County Chairman for Suffolk:
What better way for the NFU to extort money from taxpayers than to use the climate bogeyman?
By Paul Homewood
The latest propaganda from the Committee on Climate Change:
England is not ready for the unavoidable impacts of global warming, the government’s advisers on climate change say in a new report.
The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) said the government hasn’t achieved any of its targets and needed a policy "step change" to avoid loss of life.
The CCC reviews the government’s adaptation plans – preparations to cope with the effects of global warming.
The government said it would take the recommendations into account.
The committee, also known as the CCC, is an independent group of experts set up to provide the government with advice on the climate crisis.
Baroness Brown, chairwoman of the CCC’s sub-committee on adaptation, said that the government wasn’t taking the issue seriously enough.
"The government’s lack of urgency on climate resilience is in sharp contrast to the recent experience of this country," she said.
Over the last couple of years, England has faced a series of extreme weather events, likely made worse by climate change.
Last year was the warmest on record for the UK – temperatures broke 40C for the first time and more than 25,000 wildfires broke out.
As well as extreme heat, rainfall has been consistently low for parts of south and southeast England, affecting crop yields.
Andrew Blenkiron’s 6,000-acre (24 sq km) farm in Thetford, Norfolk saw just 2.4mm of rain in February compared to the local average for that month of 43mm. He has now been forced to cut back on plans to plant potatoes, onions, parsnips and carrots by around a fifth.
He said: "Farmers are at the very forefront of climate change on a day-to-day basis… we are used to working with these issues, but we are concerned with the extremes we are now facing."
To cope with the impacts of extreme heat Mr Blenkiron has enlarged reservoirs on his farm and shifted harvesting patterns to prevent wildfires.
But he said that farmers needed more money from government to implement their climate plans, especially if they involved new infrastructure projects like reservoirs.
The report singled out England’s internet networks as being woefully unprepared for climate change despite their crucial importance.
England’s internet networks – made up of hundreds of data centres, and extensive networks of cables and masts – underpin the UK’s service-based economy.
This infrastructure is already at risk from extreme weather, including heat and strong winds during storms. In November 2021, Storm Arwen left one million British properties without power and internet supply.
The committee found "there was no visible plan by the industry or government, to manage long-term risk".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-65099546
It really is time that the CCC was shut down. It fulfils no useful purpose, and exists only to promote its radical climate agenda.
Antarctic Ice Cap To Grow Despite Global Warming–New Study
By Paul Homewood
h/t Ian Cunningham
This study seems to have gone under the radar last year:
https://doaj.org/article/df360f90269148b181055b409cd38204
So in short, under high emission scenarios, they reckon that the Antarctic ice cap will actually grow, with heavier snowfall more than offsetting glacial melt, leading to lower sea levels. And even under lower emissions the rate of melt will still be lower than currently.
Indeed according to scientists like Jay Zwally, the Antarctic ice cap has actually been growing in recent decades, for precisely this reason.
By Paul Homewood
h/t Ian Magness
How much more pain are these idiots going to inflict?
Landlords will be blocked from letting properties unless they upgrade them to meet net zero energy efficiency targets within five years.
Ministers are poised to announce that landlords will have to spend thousands of pounds increasing the energy performance of their properties by 2028 – or face a fine of up to £30,000.
It is understood that the Government plans to force up to two million landlords to increase the Energy Performance Certificate rating of their properties to a minimum of a C standard to help reduce the nation’s carbon footprint.
It means buy-to-let investors could have to spend thousands of pounds installing insulation or eco-friendly devices such as heat pumps and solar panels to make their properties more energy efficient.
Currently, all privately rented homes in England and Wales need to meet a minimum energy performance of band E before they can be let.
Ministers had previously proposed a deadline of 2025 for newly-let rentals to achieve an energy performance rating of at least a C, and a deadline of 2028 for all other rented properties.
It comes after the Government was warned that the target was unachievable and risked driving landlords to sell up.
One industry source told The Telegraph that around 3,500 properties would need to be upgraded every day to meet the 2025 deadline, adding: “It’s a monumental challenge.”
There are fears that older properties will require much more investment to upgrade. The UK is home to one of Europe’s oldest housing stocks, with over half (52pc) of homes in England built before 1965.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/buy-to-let/landlords-get-five-years-hit-net-zero-targets/
Meanwhile:
The number of homes available to rent in the UK has fallen by a third over the past 18 months.
The sharp drop in the number of listings has helped drive up rents for new tenants by 11%.
Lettings agencies typically have 10 rentals compared to over 16 before September 2021, figures shared with the BBC by property website Zoopla show.
This has left people like Ruth searching for months without luck. "It seems completely hopeless", she said.
It does not take a genius to work out that landlords are not going to fork out thousands on EPCs, and many will simply sell up instead.
If the government wants the country to spend trillions on Net Zero, it should fund it itself and reduce other areas of public spending.
By Paul Homewood
From OilPrice.com
Saudi Aramco plans to build a $10-billion refining and petrochemical complex in China over the next three years, taking advantage of the country’s growing demand for energy.
The complex will have a capacity of 300,000 barrels of crude daily, Aramco said in a news release. The Saudi major will supply 201,000 barrels per day to the facility.
The project will be carried out in partnership between Aramco and two Chinese companies. Construction works should begin in the second half of this year, with the project scheduled for completion in 2026.
BBC Cover Up EU’s U-Turn On Car Ban
By Paul Homewood
The BBC has been strangely silent about the EU’s u-turn on the banning of sales of new internal combustion engine cars.
The EU Parliament originally voted last year for the ban, which would take effect in 2035. However Germany and Italy led a rebellion to block the move, and demanded that ICEs should still be allowed so long as they were able to use “carbon neutral” e-fuels, as I noted last week. The EU has now caved in to German demands, but curiously the BBC does not seem very keen for its readers to know!
I wonder why?
By Paul Homewood
London, 28 March – Net Zero Watch has accused the wind industry and the government of colluding to mislead the public about the true cost of wind energy.
The Government has repeatedly assured us that energy bills would soon fall as a result of much lower prices for offshore wind power, set at recent Contracts for Difference (CfD) auctions.
However, a new Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (now Department for Energy Security and Net Zero) and the Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC) has revealed that offshore wind farms and other generators are under no obligation whatsoever to take up their CfD options.
What is more, the Government has no power to either enforce them or impose penalties on those who don’t.
It is therefore almost certain that wind farm operators will simply not trigger their contracts. Instead, they are sell electricity on the open market at much higher prices, as two offshore wind farms are already doing. They are selling electricity at prices nearly double than they agreed in their contracts.
A series of research papers published by Net Zero Watch and others has shown that the true costs of offshore wind power are much higher than claimed, and that the low prices contracted at recent CfD auctions are simply nonviable.
Net Zero Watch is calling on the Government to impose a 100% windfall tax on all generators who refuse to honour their contracts.
Climate and energy analyst, Paul Homewood, said:
"The Contracts for Difference scheme has been badly designed since the outset, and has already cost energy users £5.7 billion. For offshore wind farms, it is Heads I win, Tails you lose."
By Paul Homewood
By Paul Homewood
London, 27 March – Net Zero Watch has welcomed yesterday’s EU agreement not to ban the sale of cars with internal combustion engines (ICE) after 2035.
Net Zero Watch is calling on Rishi Sunak to follow suit and abandon its 2030 ban of the sale of ICE cars.
According to the agreement conventional cars can continue to be sold and registered after 2035 if they only use fuels that are CO2-neutral. This will allow car makers to continue producing and selling conventional models indefinitely.
"Now that the European ban of the sale of combustion engine cars has been overturned, the government will come under growing pressure to follow suit if it wants to avoid destroying the British car industry for good," said Dr Benny Peiser, director of Net Zero Watch.
The EU agreed in February to set the 2035 date for ending the sale of ICE cars, but Germany and a coalition of seven EU countries lodged last-minute objections and called for the use of e-fuelled ICE cars beyond 2035.
As a result, the EU has come to what appears to be a sensible decision to allow the sale and use of conventional cars that are fulled by synthetic and other CO2-neutral fuels.
For millions of Britons electric vehicles will not be a viable solution as they are much more expensive than cars with combustion engines. And electric cars will probably still be more expensive than conventional cars in seven years.
EV Drivers Face Fines For Hogging Charge Points!
By Paul Homewood
h/t Ian Magness
The joys of owning an EV!
NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 