‘Net zero’ runs into stormy weather but the IoD has a bright idea

Shouting at firms about climate disaster won’t work when they are already struggling with the downturn, writes James Moore

Wind turbines: but net zero has lately run into some heavy weather (PA)

Net zero is running into some heavy weather. This week’s National Audit Office report on decarbonising our energy demonstrated just how much work there is to be done, while the Institute of Directors separately warned that only a small minority (28 per cent) of firms have plans in place to hit the net zero target.

The troubling conclusion of the report was that the government “risks not meeting its ambition to decarbonise power by 2035 because it lacks a delivery plan”.

Generators have been paid up to £62m a day to shut down when they put out too much electricity. Little attention has been paid to how to store the excess, and how to manage to switch from a small number of big generators to lots of little ones. Perhaps a modicum of political stability will see this addressed.