Wind-power: inordinately expensive and ineffective at cutting CO2 emissions
Posted by Nick Cowen in Economics, Environment, Press Release on 09/01/2012
Energy experts warn that unwarranted support for wind-power is hindering genuinely cleaner energy
The focus on wind-power, driven by the renewables targets, is preventing Britain from effectively reducing CO2 emissions, while crippling energy users with additional costs, according to a new Civitas report. The report finds that wind-power is unreliable and requires back-up power stations to be available in order to maintain a consistent electricity supply to households and businesses. This means that energy users pay twice: once for the window-dressing of renewables, and again for the fossil fuels that the energy sector continues to rely on. Contrary to the implied message of the Government’s approach, the analysis shows that wind-power is not a low-cost way of reducing emissions.
Electricity Costs: the folly of wind-power, by economist Ruth Lea, uses Government-commissioned estimates of the costs of electricity generation in the UK to calculate the most cost-effective technologies. When all costs are included, gas-fired power is the most cost-efficient method of generating electricity in the short-term, while nuclear power stations become the most cost-efficient in the medium-term.
Environmentalists are undermining their cause by defending emissions trading
Posted by David Merlin-Jones in Economics, Environment, European Union on 06/01/2012
On Wednesday, the Guardian published an article in ‘Comment is Free’ dismissing the claims made in Civitas’ latest report, CO2.1: Beyond the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (available here). Damien Morris, the author of the article and senior policy advisor at Sandbag, described the report as ‘cynical’ and containing ‘remorseless pessimism’. What is the report’s crime? To argue that the EU’s flagship environmental scheme delivers no environmental benefit and is being manipulated by governments, businesses and bankers for profit and should therefore be scrapped. There was no discussion of the report’s positive messages of alternative ways to reduce carbon emissions, if that is what we must do, for much less cost while also reducing the future price of energy.
Read the rest of this article on The Commentator here
The rise of the Hungarian Viktator?
Posted by Natalie Hamill in European Union on 06/01/2012
By Lucy Hatton
There is suggestion that Hungary’s position in the European Union may no longer be tenable after the coming into force of the new Hungarian Constitution, or Fundamental Law, on 1 January. This controversial constitution has been heavily criticised for being overly right-wing and eroding the democracy so precious to Hungary since the fall of communism in the country in 1989. The contradiction between some of the provisions of the new constitution and those democratic values inherent in the treaties of the EU has led to the claim from a former US Ambassador to Budapest, that Hungary “won’t be tolerated if it no longer counts as a democracy”.
Linking the Offender and Benefits Databases
Posted by Nigel Williams in Crime, Economics, Social Security on 04/01/2012
The Ministry of Justice and Department for Work and Pensions are to be congratulated for linking together databases of offenders and benefit claimants to see what can be learnt about individuals appearing on both systems. There is enough overlap, people that at different times offend and receive benefits, to reveal some patterns, provided one is careful not to assume that all benefit recipients must also be offenders.
EU’s flagship green scheme siphons cash from consumers and employers to energy fat cats
Posted by Nick Cowen in Economics, Environment, European Union, Press Release on 04/01/2012
Emissions Trading System shrinks economy but not Britain’s carbon footprint
The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is siphoning billions from industry and consumers to plump up finance and energy fat cats, according a new Civitas report. The report reveals that, via the EU ETS, each EU citizen is effectively subsidising the power industry by £30 a year. [p. 13] In addition, the Government is adding more costs to UK families and businesses via the carbon price floor which sets a minimum price for carbon credits. This carbon price floor is expected to push another 110,000 British households into fuel poverty by 2016. [p. 61]
CO2.1, by David Merlin-Jones, is a comprehensive examination of how the EU ETS fails at its own goal of reducing carbon emissions. It details how carbon traders, banks, energy companies and the government are extracting billions from productive businesses and consumers via the EU ETS, while undermining the vulnerable UK economic recovery.
Misleading claims about economic benefits of Equality Act are endangering jobs
Posted by Nick Cowen in Political Correctness, Press Release, Race and Equality on 03/01/2012
Contrary to government assurances, new equality rules will have no economic benefit and questionable impact on real inequality
As unemployment continues to grow, a new Civitas report reveals that new equality regulations threaten further job losses. The Equality Act 2010 introduced new duties on employers to protect disadvantaged groups from discrimination in the workplace and combines existing anti-discrimination law into one act. The Government’s official Impact Assessment of the Equality Act claimed that it would produce net economic benefits of £25-£87 million annually and increase access to jobs. But Assessing the Damage, by Nigel Williams, finds that the Government’s Assessment relied on a series of spurious assumptions, and that the more probable outcome is job destruction.