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UK green economy has failed to grow since 2014, according to official data

 

https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2022/02/20/uk-green-economy-has-failed-to-grow-since-2014-according-to-official-data/

By Paul Homewood

 

Hardly the surprise of the century!!

 

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The UK’s low-carbon and renewable energy economy has failed to grow since 2014, according to official data showing a fall in the number of green jobs.

In a blow to the government’s pledge to boost net-zero employment opportunities, the Office for National Statistics said its latest figures, covering 2020, showed “no significant change” in turnover and job numbers in the sector compared with six years earlier.

Employment in the low-carbon and renewable energy economy – which includes manufacturing, energy supply and construction – fell by about 28,000 across the UK over the period, to just 207,800. Among the steepest declines were in factories producing energy-efficient products, onshore wind, and solar energy.

https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/17/uk-green-economy-has-failed-to-grow-since-2014-official-figures-show

 

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The jobs data includes 15,000 for nuclear, which have existed for years, and therefore have little to do with Net Zero. Only about 20,000 jobs are in the wind and solar power sectors.

By far the biggest chunk is the 87,000 for “Other Energy Efficient Products”, including 42,800 in manufacturing and 35,800 in construction. It is not clear what this covers, but presumably it would include double glazing and other insulation for homes, which again are hardly anything new.

There is another 22,700 for “Energy Efficient Lighting”, most of which are classified as “Construction”, by which they presumably mean installation. Again. most of these could be regarded as simply rebadging already existing jobs.

What is evident though is that the shutdown of fossil fuels will probably cost a lot more jobs than are created.

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