Colin Merritt

PhD plant scientist; ex gov. research; Uni lecturer; exMonsanto Tech/comms; Consultant - (@FarmingFutures @DEI_Durham). Local Councillor, Dad, mischief-maker!

[Steve Loftus @LoftusSteve]

This report perfectly encapsulates Net Zero. Smoke and mirrors.

Of these "1m jobs" 234k are induced jobs from worker spending. Yes really.

Only 308,000 are direct NZ jobs and of those most existed long before NZ.

Bin men, landfill workers, insulation fitters and window manufacturers are all included.

[Colin Merritt @Merrittable]

Complete hocus pokery

[Simon Evans @DrSimEvans]

NEW: UK's 7th carbon budget will deliver '£865bn' in economic benefits

* Major investments needed to get rewards, inc saving £445bn on oil / gas imports
* Pointedly, given current politics, figures are presented relative to "no net-zero"

Full analysis:

https://t.co/sWuxdqGNyl

[Matt Ridley @mattwridley]

When the Net Zero measure was laid before Parliament I asked for some sort of estimate of the cost of this measure.

In vain. There was none.

Who agrees to buy a house without agreeing the price?

https://t.co/ZCucHWGdHz

[Colin Merritt @Merrittable]

What a pathetic nanny state we now have under this rabble.
They would have had a mental meltdown in 1976.
We had endless fun

[Steve Reed @SteveReedMP]

I know lots of people will be out over the weekend enjoying the sunshine.

It’s important to stay safe in the heat - so check out the guidance below before heading out.

https://t.co/vTEl1hnn61

[Colin Merritt @Merrittable]

Absolute lunacy

[Allison Pearson @AllisonPearson]

No. Absolutely not.
There isn’t enough water for current residents!

[Colin Merritt @Merrittable]

The Politburo strikes again.

[Bernie @Artemisfornow]

Because too many local people are objecting to giant solar farms on farmland near their homes….

… Labour has changed the law so communities can object, but now those objections can be ignored.

Another little bit of our democracy chipped away.

[Annunziata Rees-Mogg @zatzi]

Higher bills, less energy supply security.

Ed Miliband’s eco-obsession at work

[Andrew Neil @afneil]

Here are two other UK power records:
1. Highest industrial energy costs in the world.
2. Second highest domestic energy costs in the world.
As E Miliband says, we’re setting an example for the rest of the world. Indeed we are. Which is why nobody is following us.

[David Turver @7Kiwi]

Because UK Net Zero won't change anything except the collapse of the economy. Our emissions are little more than a rounding error.

[ClarksonsFarm @ClarksonsFarm1]

How times have changed 😂

[Andrew Montford @aDissentient]

While Mad Ed still tries to pretend that renewables are going to bring power prices down, the Ofgem data show that even with gas prices hit by the war in the Middle East, the long-term increase is still mostly due to Net Zero policies.

[Bjorn Lomborg @BjornLomborg]

An Inconvenient Truth for climate alarmists:

Al Gore’s dramatic climate warnings shaped a generation — but 20 years later, the data tell a very different story.

Climate-related deaths are down 97% over the past century, polar bears more than doubled since the 1960s, and global burned area has decreased by more than 25% over the past quarter century.

That's hardly a success of climate policy though: fossil fuels still provide 81% of world energy, emissions keep rising, and $16 trillion+ spent on green policies since Gore's movie came out hasn’t changed the trajectory.

A good reminder that panic is a terrible policy adviser.

https://t.co/PHVlqFB3Zg

[Colin Merritt @Merrittable]

Met Office junk science. Such a disappointment!!

[Matt Ridley @mattwridley]

"virtual observations"!!

[Kathryn Porter @KathrynPorter26]

10 years ago I published my very first blog. I was quite nervous about putting my head above the parapet (yes, I know that didn't last!) but from the start it was important to me that my writing was data driven and not just more noise

10 years down the line I'm still talking about the same things. My very first post was about how physics drives the way the energy markets work and the second set out the challenges of renewables

What I could not have imagined was that a decade later things are significantly worse. We're spending £billions to subsidise energy that's supposed to be cheap and then more £billions to fix the problems they cause on our grids - the need for more grid infrastructure, the need for backup generation and storage and the need to spend more on balancing to manage real time intermittency

As a result, electricity prices are so high we're spending £billions to support energy intensive industries and low income households

If ever there was a time to step back and review this mess of interventions, it's now, when another war is bringing the importance of cheap and secure energy into focus

If my blog is still around 10 years from now, I hope the themes will have changed

In the meantime, I'd like to thank all the people who have supported me over the past 10 years...the clients who have put their faith in me, without any financial backing or administrative support behind me; the regular contributors to my blog whose thoughtful comments have raised it from being just another voice to a community of engineers debating issues of real importance to our evolving energy systems; and the many people who have given me their time to share ideas and information over the years. And to my family which has been with me all the way.

#energysecurity #affordableenergy #energypolicy

https://t.co/Fzt3R83MHI

[Peter Clack @PeterDClack]

Coal, oil and gas produced 81% of the world's primary power, after 40 years of this carbon swindle. This is the greatest deception in history. The agenda has nothing at all to do with environmentalism. It is a deliberate distortion of science. Coal, oil and gas are not destabilising the climate. The scale and size of the world is far too immense. Land area covers 28% of the world's surface area. Of that area, all human urban centres cover only 3%. Think of this: ice covers 10% of all land area. CO2 IS a trace gas. It's still only 420 ppm, or 4 molecules in 10,000. You've been sold the biggest Ponzi scheme ever attempted.

[Matt Ridley @mattwridley]

The world's energy system is basically hydrocarbons whether we like it or not.

They are abundant, portable, mostly safe, energy-dense, have a high energy return on energy invested,

And no other species consumes them so we are not stealing nature's lunch by burning them.

[Colin Merritt @Merrittable]

@zatzi Climate “crisis” fanatics have been distorting the facts for years.
They now believe their own lies and fantasies

[Annunziata Rees-Mogg @zatzi]

Ed Miliband is a dangerous, lying hypocrite.

[Colin Merritt @Merrittable]

What absolute tosh

[Dr Paul Dorfman @dorfman_p]

University of Oxford : maximising oil and gas extraction here would only save UK households up to £82 (€95) per year. A UK fully powered by renewable energy, would save households up to £441 (€510) a year on energy bills.
https://t.co/B50EZdDrJJ

[Jeremy Clarkson @JeremyClarkson]

@AdrianRamsay I fear you may not have grasped the problem.