The evidence behind a global march towards clean and carbon-minimised energies is not doubted by the scientific community. There is a global consensus from the overwhelming majority of scientists that carbon emissions are a huge factor contributing towards global warming. It is unilaterally agreed that the ‘Greenhouse effect’ has increased surface temperatures.
Trapped heat has been the cornerstone of biological life on this planet, but now threatens the wellbeing of all plant and animal life. The greenhouse effect is a process where Earth’s atmosphere traps heat, warming the planet to a habitable temperature. Solar radiation heats the Earth’s surface, which then emits infrared radiation (heat) back out.
Greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and water vapor, absorb some of this outgoing heat and re-radiate it back towards Earth, warming the lower atmosphere. This effect can be intensified by human activities, leading to global warming and climate change.
Adding any more greenhouse gasses to this process, like carbon dioxide and methane, lessens our planet’s ability to release energy which is converted to heat. Further greenhouse gasses that fossil fuels perpetuate also spread captured heat and therefore create rising sea levels, increased natural disaster probability and drought.
However, there are vocal elements within the range of political parties that are either denying these recorded and calculated observations or ignoring them all together.
For example, China, although an acknowledged culprit in using fossil fuels, is working towards widespread renewable energy introduction. According to figures released by the International Energy Association (IEA), as of 2023 China’s domestic energy mix included a 60.9% share of fossil fuels – but is working diligently towards transitioning to clean energy.
European politics, in comparison, is fractured, with every major economy inside the EU and UK containing vocal opposition towards net zero and clean energy introduction. The main reason behind these objections appears financially based, with strong calls in the UK to abolish net-zero ambitions in favour of North Sea fossil fuel extraction.
There is a populist belief that the UK owns all the gas and oil remaining in the North Sea outright and should have cheap fuel prices. But we live in a global market economy where producers want the best price for their product and hence the price of fuel is global and not local. Companies from many different nationalities own North Sea oil, with the UK holding the largest combined equity stake at 46.5%. However, significant stakes are also held by companies from the US, France, Spain, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, China, Russia and Norway, among others.
DECARBONISING THE GRID
Current plans to decarbonise the UK’s power grid by 2035 will require £8.2bn a year of additional investment until 2030 – a total of £49.3bn. A further £11.1bn a year of additional investment from 2031-2035, a total of £55.3bn. The total accumulative investment over 11 years will amount to £104.6bn.
The current government aims to acquire huge amounts of capital investment to achieve its decarbonising aims. Aurora has calculated that £15.6bn a year until 2030 is required (total £93.5bn) and a further £4.4bn a year from 2031-2035 (£22.5bn), equating to a total of £116bn.
The opposition to government is arguing that a more pragmatic approach should be adopted to create less financial turbulence. However, some types of pragmatism are now evident in the politics of other large European economies.
France has banned low-emission zones in towns and cities as of May 2025. These zones are designed to reduce traffic congestion and pollution levels in well-populated urban areas of 150,000 inhabitants. Although low-emission zones are still in effect, a ban has been imposed for reasons of regional financial growth.
Germany is also attempting to revise climate objectives through a newly acquired coalition government. New policy adaptations include reviewing and possibly reducing land area reserved for wind energy, a rollback on electric vehicle sales targets and a possible repeal of the Building Energy Act, which replaces oil and gas heating with renewable technologies.
In America, the Trump administration has publicly voiced its intention to withdraw $13bn of funds made available by former President Biden’s green investment strategy. Additional climate-friendly policy reversals include subsidies for offshore wind projects being stopped by the current American administration. Construction on Equinor’s 810MW Empire Wind project was halted last month due to a change in policy. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will no longer fund solar panels or allow equipment produced by foreign companies on USDA-approved projects. Economic future relating to agricultural land and domestic energy independence are cited factors in this decision.
Direct interference of clean energy initiatives appears to be motivated by an ideological position, while European states have begun withdrawing from ecological pledges. The UK push towards a less intense energy transition contains elements of both ideology and monetary concerns.
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