The government’s war on a vital trace gas in the atmosphere ratchets up yet again, burdening everyone with more pointless bureaucracy and costs. That includes importers of renewables and electric vehicles.
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Britain said on Monday (18 December) it would implement a new import carbon pricing mechanism by 2027, with goods imported from countries with a lower or no carbon price having to pay a levy as part of decarbonisation efforts, reports Euractiv.
The government said the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) would apply to carbon intensive products in the iron, steel, aluminium, fertiliser, hydrogen, ceramics, glass and cement sectors.
The charge applied will depend on the amount of carbon emitted in the production of the imported good, and the gap between the carbon price applied in the country of origin – if any – and the carbon price faced by UK producers.
“This levy will make sure carbon intensive products from overseas – like steel and ceramics – face a comparable carbon price to those produced in the UK, so that our decarbonisation efforts translate into reductions in global emissions,” finance minister Jeremy Hunt said.
“This should give UK industry the confidence to invest in decarbonisation as the world transitions to net zero.” [Talkshop comment – invest?]
Britain said it would help reduce the risk of ‘carbon leakage’, avoiding emissions being displaced to other countries because they have a lower or no carbon price. The CBAM will work alongside the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, it added.
On 1 October, the European Union launched the first phase of a system to impose CO2 emissions tariffs on imported steel, cement and other goods, the world’s first. It will not begin collecting any CO2 emission charges at the border until 2026.
Full report here.
Tallbloke's Talkshop 
“apply to carbon intensive products in the iron, steel, aluminium, fertiliser, hydrogen, ceramics, glass and cement sectors.” Aye that’s it then, eh? No more building of anything nor growing of food or even Bio Fuel crops then …
Why did we bother to learn more in relation to our vocational work ? What a helluva waste of time. These governing idiots should be made to pay the ultimate price for all this.
That “warm spell of weather” never really materialised up here – Yes as in Tain, we too had 14 to 15C for a wee whilie, but it’s now cold and wet again and we have REAL work to do – outside for the well being of our animals over the next 2-3 weeks … so that they all can eat and drink.
By 2027 ? Doesn’t matter, by then they will be worrying about something else and this will fade into the past.
So many people when asked “How much co2 produced in your production ? Answer, Haven’t a clue !”
Want to charge me ? Then go without !
CityAM: Concerns have been raised about discrepancies between the EU’s and UK’s CBAM, with potential risks of higher costs for UK producers and misalignment with global carbon pricing efforts.
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Eurosceptic MPs have slammed the proposal as being too similar to the EU’s flagship CBAM. Jacob Rees-Mogg told Politico: “Typically, the Treasury aims slavishly to follow the EU’s approach forgetting that the country voted for Brexit so we could do things differently and better.” He even said the UK’s ETS should be scrapped.
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/UK-Sets-Sights-on-Carbon-Neutrality-with-Groundbreaking-Legislation.html
Hunt knows he’s talking nonsense but still he says it. Higher prices for steel, concrete and fertiliser mean higher prices for virtually everything, not least because renewables use a lot of steel and concrete so they affect energy prices. Yet he thinks that somehow this will make us better off because now people will invest? What makes us better off is lower prices, not investment.
Uhuh, “Hunt knows” He is EVIL, then. “not least because renewables use a lot of steel and concrete” – that clown ‘Brown’ who initiated the extra tax on Concrete and, AND, on quarry products, I believe, even before the point of SALE so that quarry operators had to pay up front ,just for being adventurous, shall we say in eager anticipation of markets ( OR REALLY, the WEATHER ) – try and work soils in hard winters – It’s FROZEN, DUMMY Chancellor ! Farmers STORE food in anticipation of demand too, the EEC did it ( called Intervention buying, (but then it became the EU … ) but became a stupid market slot for unscrupulous farmers & traders – poor(er) quality ). A Money pit, in other words
And FWIW, our Scottish (INO) gov have increased Wage taxes, (yesterday’s budget) … So we pay higher wages to councillors and their minions to be lost in taxes … same in NHS and Education, etc So our COSTS go up with little incentive to invest any more. ….. AND today is ANOTHER dark = DULL day heavy cloud cover affecting the Spirit. and all this talk about psychiatric health of the nation. It’s NOT the Weather climate, it’s the Psychological pressures affecting us all, DUMMY politicians, GET OFF OUR BACKS!
Tax in the UK is already the highest it’s been since WWII.
“Buy a heat pump and an EV, you plebs! Blow the expense.” — “Uhh… no thanks.”
Rishi Sunak faces ‘boiler tax’ rebellion
Tory backbenchers mobilise against plans to penalise boiler makers that do not meet heat pump installation targets
20 December 2023
The Telegraph has been told the Net Zero Scrutiny Group, which consists of 50 Tory backbenchers, is mobilising to vote against the plans.
Craig Mackinlay, the influential group’s chairman, said: “The Government’s planned new boiler tax is another blow to hardworking families.
“If heat pumps are as good as ministers are claiming then why do they feel the need to mandate them?”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/12/20/rishi-sunak-faces-major-tory-rebellion-over-net-zero-boiler/
Not ready for prime time…
Brussels takes heat pump ‘action plan’ off the agenda
“Europe is falling behind on the decarbonisation of heat,” said Thomas Nowak, secretary-general of the European heat pump association (EHPA). Instead of addressing the issues, “the Commission has kicked [the action plan] into the long grass,” he added.
. . .
To begin with, many EU countries have yet to restrict the sale of traditional fossil-based heaters. In Germany, a government attempt to ban them as of 2024 brought the government to the brink of collapse and has since been pushed into the late 2020s.
Secondly, fossil gas is still often cheaper than electricity, effectively abolishing the efficiency advantage of heat pumps. Skilled installers are in short supply and electricity grids are not always prepared to handle the extra load.
https://www.euractiv.com/section/buildings/news/brussels-takes-heat-pump-action-plan-off-the-agenda/
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“Europe is falling behind” – falling behind who?
‘gas is still often cheaper than electricity’ – only *often*? A massive understatement.
Rupert Darwall:
‘Like net zero, communism was based on a lie: that it would outproduce capitalism. But it failed to produce, and belief in communism evaporated. When the collapse came, it was sudden and rapid. The truth could not be hidden. A similar fate awaits net zero.’
https://climatechangedispatch.com/the-uks-net-zero-disaster-and-wind-power-scam/
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State mandates on climate aren’t working, except to cause unnecessary hardship and difficulties for voters.
When will the Telegraph stop publishing untrue statements like this?
Few disagree that we need to reduce carbon emissions.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/12/21/the-boiler-tax-exposes-the-truth-about-heat-pumps/