As far as I remember, these subsidies are really for green energy built out in the past; the new stuff is much cheaper and much more efficient and therefore there will be far less of a 'green levy'. I seem to remember Ambrose Evans Pritchard of the Telegraph writing that some of the new offshore windmill auctions were won at a strike price so low they might end up paying into the system. That said, I haven't looked into the actual numbers for ages (and even then it was only a cursory look), so I cannot say for certain. In theory, this could be part of a high quality industrial policy. We have made the decision to go for renewables, and so have Europe and NA (and even China). We have pretty much the largest offshore wind market in the world. We could leverage that and tell companies that if they want access, they have to build X% (preferrably >90%) off all components and their assembly in Britain: no domestication, no access. That would not only directly create good quality jobs, but also secondary jobs in the supply chain and R&D spend, too. Then, we could also start capturing export markets with our world class industry that would have, because of the size of our market, a Ricardian Advantage. But we don't; we just buy from the lowest bidder and bolt them together here -- which often means huge carbon expenditure as they're made in high carbon economies and then transported half way around the world.
The direct problem, so far as I can see, is that the media never ask any of these questions. At least, not any of the media that seem able to bring any pressure to bear. There are plenty of people asking questions related to these issues but they don't seem to be able to make a dent. Why not?
As far as I remember, these subsidies are really for green energy built out in the past; the new stuff is much cheaper and much more efficient and therefore there will be far less of a 'green levy'. I seem to remember Ambrose Evans Pritchard of the Telegraph writing that some of the new offshore windmill auctions were won at a strike price so low they might end up paying into the system. That said, I haven't looked into the actual numbers for ages (and even then it was only a cursory look), so I cannot say for certain. In theory, this could be part of a high quality industrial policy. We have made the decision to go for renewables, and so have Europe and NA (and even China). We have pretty much the largest offshore wind market in the world. We could leverage that and tell companies that if they want access, they have to build X% (preferrably >90%) off all components and their assembly in Britain: no domestication, no access. That would not only directly create good quality jobs, but also secondary jobs in the supply chain and R&D spend, too. Then, we could also start capturing export markets with our world class industry that would have, because of the size of our market, a Ricardian Advantage. But we don't; we just buy from the lowest bidder and bolt them together here -- which often means huge carbon expenditure as they're made in high carbon economies and then transported half way around the world.
The direct problem, so far as I can see, is that the media never ask any of these questions. At least, not any of the media that seem able to bring any pressure to bear. There are plenty of people asking questions related to these issues but they don't seem to be able to make a dent. Why not?
Bah!!