Dr Matthew Agarwala talks to Channel 4 News [1:20 / 3:16]
On Thursday 30 March 2023, ministers unveiled their plan to ‘power up Britain’. According to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero website, it is the government’s blueprint for the future of energy in this country to “diversify, decarbonise and domesticate energy production by investing in renewables and nuclear, to power Britain from Britain”.
Alex Thomson interviewed Dr Matthew Agarwala, Bennett Institute economist, on Channel 4 News about the government’s Powering Up Britain plan for energy security.
He identified:
- Money spent on new fossil fuels is money not invested in energy security achieved through renewable power. This is a wasted opportunity to roll out market-ready solutions and the money spent makes the climate problem worse;
- The UK has a strategic advantage in science and engineering – designing solar panels, wind turbines and blades – but rather than producing them locally, it imports them from Europe. That means that the country misses creating manufacturing jobs, and building the skills needed for the modern economy.
“The UK is miles ahead in science, but miles behind on production.”
The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the Bennett Institute for Public Policy.
