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by scrlk 627 days ago
I believe the claims may be based off of the recently published Foundations essay: https://ukfoundations.co/

Specifically, the "Britain: the first energy superpower" section: https://ukfoundations.co/#footnote-source-6

2 comments

Imagine writing a whole screed about things not being built in the UK and not mentioning that the previous government effectively banned onshore wind energy in England.

I don't understand why these allegedly pro-growth people are so stuck in the 20th century when it comes to energy production but it makes them look disconnected from reality, which is presumably not the intent, just some strange bubble they are in and don't realise they are in.

> It is commonplace to claim that electricity generated from wind or solar power is cheaper than electricity from traditional power plants. Yet the more wind and solar we hook up to the grid, and the more fossil fuel power plants we retire, the higher bills seem to go.

"Seem to"? You're hingeing your entire futurist manifesto on "seem to"?

It would be interesting if they had put places apart from France in some of the cost analysis, since France has (by my understanding) extremely low costs for industrial electricity. Comparing most countries to France would end with "well we're not doing better than some of the best", but doesn't provide the full context.

(If I'd be cynical, I'd guess graphing more countries would show that the UK is not unique here, but I don't know).

Bit surprising that even in this supposed high priced environment, renewable energy seems to not have a market in the UK (at least according to this article). Lots of the world seems to be creating those markets!

The UK and France have been rivals for centuries - old habits die hard! :^)

Renewables have seen significant growth over the past decade, particularly offshore wind, for which the UK is ideally positioned: https://grid.iamkate.com/

Energy prices in France being that low is not a result of nuclear energy, but only possible due to extreme subsidies for nuclear power there.
I'm willing to accept that, but hasn't every country in the world been subsidizing energy the past couple of years? Is it more agressive than in other countries?

In other words, what behavior is distinct between the UK and France (or other countries)?

For france at least, two thirds of energy is nuclear, falling demand, and now lots of renewables coming online [1]

Falling demand is notable to me. Though, the nuclear backbone and full embrace of renewable deployments is IMO smart

[1] https://fortune.com/2024/06/16/electricity-prices-france-neg...

I would like to know how much is subsidies and how much is economy of scale from a half-century of constantly pro-nuclear energy policy.