Travelling home from our break in Dorset, we listened to the Zoe Science and Nutrition Podcast, a key theme was educating consumers on improving their health through a better diet. The presenter almost said, ‘people don’t need to know where their energy comes from’, but quickly switched to say, ‘people don’t need to know what makes their cars safe.’
We all need to be educated on our energy use, much like we need to know to eat less processed starch and sugar.
How to save energy and save money: We are all experts at getting a deal at the supermarket. Getting a smart meter and switching to a time of use tariff is the first and easiest step. I just moved to a tariff where the night rate is four times cheaper than the day rate. For charging the car and running the washing machine this will save us hundreds of pounds each year.
Where our energy comes from: Much like we are more aware of where our food comes from; of 14 veg items delivered to us this week, only 4 came from the UK (71% imported). Today we are still 75% reliant on fossil fuels. Too many stories are fixated on the huge success of decarbonisation of electricity, and too few on the very limited steps made in the remaining 80% of the energy we use (petrol, home heating with gas, industrial use etc)
International Investment Needed: Like organic food, transitioning to clean energy is going to be more expensive. We don’t have the capital in the UK to pay for this, relying on inward investment of billions for the wind farms and nuclear plants we need. This is a key reason why nationalising energy firms would end up hurting the UK as it would dissuade investors.
Not everything needs to be done now: Like changing diets this will take time. We cannot change everyone’s house or car in the next few years, it will take a long time. People should not be scared by stories saying that their 16th century farmhouse is going to be forced to have solar panels on the thatched roof. The next time you renovate your home or change your car, you will be able to make greener choices. If you can afford this then you should, if you cannot then there should be help.
We all have a role to play: We are all responsible for the food we feed our families, and good food isn’t cheap. Perhaps the magic money tree of covid left us all thinking that governments can step in and solve all our problems by spending more. The amount of money needed for energy is so vast and the timescales so long that no government can afford to intervene in the market long term.
The consequences of inaction are immense: The Zoe podcast pointed to research that showed that what girls eat during their teen years influences whether they will get breast cancer in later life. If we don’t act now, then we will have an uninhabitable planet in ours and our children’s lifetime.
