Green dud [credit: Green Deal guide]
Bureaucracy is often slow and inefficient, maybe even more so where handing out public money – subsidies in this case – is involved. Who knew?
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England’s much-hyped £2bn green homes grant is in chaos, renewable energy installers say, with some owed tens of thousands of pounds and struggling to stay in business, reports The Guardian (via The GWPF).
Members of the public have been left waiting nearly four months, in some cases, to take advantage of the scheme to fit low carbon heating systems.
Some installers say customers are pulling out after losing faith in the green grants.
Boris Johnson touted the grants as one of the key programmes in his ten 10-point plan for a green industrial revolution.
It aims to help 600,000 households switch their energy to low carbon and help the UK meet its commitment to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Ministers awarded the contract to run the programme to ICF, a large American consulting corporation based in Virginia. Details of the value of the government contract have not yet been published.
But renewable energy businesses say the administration of the grants is chaotic, inefficient, confused and is creating long delays for the public and installers.
Full article here.
Tallbloke's Talkshop 
Did Boris fall for the great (as in preposterous) Netflix walrus con?
Attenborough’s cliff-dying walrus convinced elite Davos influencers of a global climate emergency
Posted on January 24, 2021
Princess Nut Nut, not BOJO.
Scotland’s cloud cuckoo climate chaos claim…
1 hr ago
Scottish Government has ‘no plan B’ to hit climate targets
EXPERTS have warned the Scottish Government’s strategy for hitting ambitious climate targets by 2030 is based on “wishful thinking” amid fears there is no plan B in the event untested technology cannot be scaled up.
Scottish Government ministers have published their climate change update after MSPs pledged to reduce 1990 levels of carbon emissions by 75 per cent by 2030 on the way to becoming carbon neutral by 2045.
But experts have raised concerns that using carbon capture and storage (CCS) and negative emissions technology (NET) to decarbonise heavy industry such as the oil and gas sector are not based on evidence it can be done in time.
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/19040426.scottish-government-no-plan-b-hit-climate-targets/
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Plan B suggestion: retire from the political scene before 2030 😎
ICF’s web site is worth a visit …. – if only for the drone video of a £50k Tesla Model Y wafting silently through lush woodland and footage of wholesome mummy + kids in bucolic fields stroking long grass and flowers….
The ICF jobs on offer in the UK are something of an eye-opener too…. – I love the idea that a UK scheme is being administered via an automated call centre just outside Washington D.C. – is there a reciprocal agreement where Serco get to do the same to Yanks?
Every grant as far as I can see pivots on a certified Energy Assessment – likely a £1000+ “bargain”
How much of the £2 billion will get spanked on admin and consultants?
I’m willing to bet it will be over 50%
The green grants crap is just the tip of the iceberg. This is from the National Grid [highlights added]…
Building the Net Zero Energy Workforce Report [Jan. 2020]
Development Economics’ research found that to
get the UK to net zero, the energy sector must
recruit for 400,000 jobs by 2050. Of these, 260,000
will be new roles, while 140,000 will be replacing
those who have left the workforce. The new roles
created will largely be driven by an increase
in people needed to build and upgrade energy
infrastructure on a massive scale.
Breaking this 30 year recruitment need down, the
energy sector will need to recruit for 117,000 jobs
between 2020-2030 if it is to achieve the pace of
change required.
More than half of the 117,000 jobs required this
decade (65,000) will be needed to fill new roles
such as data analytics to forecast energy demand
and engineers with expertise in renewables.
The remaining 52,000 recruits will be needed
to replace workers forecast to leave the sector.
https://www.nationalgrid.com/document/126256/download
[in the link, all the above is highlighted]
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I forecast the wind won’t blow all the time, and may not blow when it’s needed. How’s my analytical skill?
Anyway, we can see where the claims of green jobs are coming from, e.g. tens of thousands of data analysts to figure out how many megawatts of power are going to be needed in any given slice of time. Anyone of a nervous disposition need not apply.
I don’t want low carbon heating. I want reliable CHEAP heating.
Oh yeah, how is it people are still using the retarded “climate skeptic” label? How can one be skeptical of the climate???
You can be skeptical of the nonexistent GHE, proven by the nonexistent mid tropospheric hot spot. You can be skeptical of the idiot notion that the ‘missing’ heat went down to the bottom of the oceans. You can be skeptical of the mathematically debunked claims that humans can make major changes to the Earth’s climate, mostly by increasing taxes. You can be skeptical of your government demanding you sacrifice gobs of money and reliable heating and air conditioning to save the planet when India and China surge ahead in building traditional “dirty” power plants. Etc.
Another quote from the ‘net zero’ report:
Digital and data skills:
To harness AI to maximise the reliability, responsiveness
and accuracy of the UK’s energy system, the sector will
need to attract experts in machine learning. Digital skills
and data analytics will become core skills for the Net
Zero Energy Workforce, with big data used for network
planning, more efficient maintenance and improving
risk mitigation.
https://www.nationalgrid.com/document/126256/download
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If AI could make the wind blow on demand…but it can’t.
Torturing data isn’t a solution, unless the idea is to decide who or what gets switched off 😟
COP 26 not happening? If one case occurred would 30,000 people have to self-isolate?
ELN: Could COP26 be further postponed due to COVID-19?
Media reports suggest the United Nations summit could be delayed for a second time if the pandemic situation worsens
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Even if it doesn’t ‘worsen’ there’s still a question mark over that many people from all over the world gathering in one place this year. Maybe a limit of 3 per country 😆
Green homes grant: UK standards body calls on government to pay up
Failure to pay for work on green scheme is leading to debt and job losses, say businesses
28 Jan 2021
A BEIS spokesperson said: “Ministers have asked the scheme administrator to pay money owed to installers as a matter of urgency.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/28/green-homes-grant-uk-standards-body-calls-on-government-to-pay-up