To think a windfall tax would prevent investment in renewables at a time when we need them most

[allatwonce]

This may be an unpopular view, but people need to hear it. The vast profits being made by our energy companies look disgusting but are a once-in-a-generation opportunity for them to invest in alternatives to fossil fuels. They are building wind farms etc, and investing in future technologies such as modern nuclear power stations and fusion. This investment is the only way to wean us off fossil fuels such as gas. If Government takes the profits as a windfall tax, it would be a populist act that many would approve of, but they would then have to hand the money back to the same companies to subsidise their investment activities.

Disclaimer: I've never voted Conservative in my life, but I am objective and open to seeing the logic in some Conservative policies.

Rubbish. They are investing in building infrastructure because they know the future is in alternative energy and they want to be the dominant suppliers of that when the oil/gas runs out. They are completely transforming their business models.

I'm all for that but let them pay for the transformation with their substantial profit.
we could go crazy and spend the money we save with a tax on national power companies but instead we are allowing fracking?
how are we going to benefit there, how do we force these fracking companies to sell us gas much lower than market rates?

The gradually in your reply is the problem. We do';t have time for gardually. The fossil fuel giants are still investing in new gas and oil fields. Only through legislation and financial penalty will they move at the speed they need to into renewables.

Go an read their company reports They are literally building wind farms and investing in developing fusion technologies and much more.

I thought we needed all energy supplies to have a hope of security

So it will see investment in off shore / renewables etc

I'm not talking about water companies, They aren't suppliers of oil and gas. I'm talking about energy companies.
Again, the grasp of basic general knowledge is seriously lacking!

FFS op don't be an idiot. I SPECIFICALLY compared the investment that you think the energy companies will make with the investment the water companies haven't made. Your basic reading comprehension skills are seriously lacking.

FWIW: I believe that energy (and water) should be nationalised industries. But they need to be run professionally and properly with proper investment. I'm not entirely sure i trust any UK goverment to ensure that.

The gradually in your reply is the problem. We do';t have time for gardually

Agree. That's why they need the windfall!

And gas fields... www.shell.com/media/news-and-media-releases/2022/shell-invests-in-the-jackdaw-gas-field-in-the-uk-north-sea.html

I SPECIFICALLY compared the investment that you think the energy companies will make with the investment the water companies haven't made

Why compare apples and pears? No logic there.

We’ll need this and renewables though?

We need all types full speed

No. We don't need new sources of fossil fuel extraction that will cause irreversible catastrophic climate change. We need to vastly accelerate the transition into renewables. Every pound we spend on fossil fuels and every ton of new carbon we release into the atmosphere is inching us closer to disaster.

All investement should be put into a massive programme of energy conservation and insulation, local sustainable production (solar, air source heat pumps etc), public transport, wind, tidal etc etc, not opening up more gas fields!

Why, exactly, do they want to be dominant future suppliers? You casting around the term 'naivety' looks a bit silly when you say respond with points like this.

It's adorable you think energy companies would act so differently to water companies.

So I'll ask again. Are you suggesting that we should legislate to force companies to invest a certain proportion of their excess profits, and if so, what percentage of profits would you make them invest?

Or are you going to leave it to their discretion and hope that they choose to do the right thing?

What’s the comparative timescale? We need security quickly

Nuclear takes years, fracking not sure or wind

And they are investing in renewables - the sustainability lead OEUK made same point as op re windfall tax

At this point being fast is key

There is no reason why tidal and even off shore wind for example couldn't be built quickly

Vaccines take decades to develop until the will is three

Yes without storage you need lots - of course the government could also hand over the cash they promised last year for the battery factory in the north east - that might help

Why, exactly, do they want to be dominant future suppliers?

Because it costs a huge amount to build the infrastructure and they have the size to be able to do that. They also invest in smaller companies to enable them to work on renewables.

The alternative is that Gvt takes a windfall tax and chooses how to re-distribute it to energy companies to invest in alternatives - an extra layer of intervention that is unecessary, so long as Gvt is already happy with how the investments are being made.

Remember that anyone who has a pension is already heavily invested in these big energy companies, so if they do well it is a good thing!

The Covid vaccine was only developed quickly because of big injections of cash. It doesn't happen by goodwill alone.

Why compare apples and pears? No logic there.

you are being willfully irritatiting. I DID NOT SAY THEY WERE THE SAME. I do know how companies with shareholders work though. And i know that they will do anything they can to increase dividends. Anything. And now I'm off because you just want to push that you are right and everyone else in the universe is wrong. You can donate my fiver to a foodbank, Liz.

There will be no energy security if by pursuing new fossil fuel extraction we tip the climate into runaway irreversible system failure. If it's cold in your home, you don't make things better by setting your curtains on fire.

We need all of it.

including expanding nuclear and other

It takes about a decade to do that and we have an issue right now.

Huge cash amounts make change possible faster - as we saw with the vaccine. It takes a large amount of investment to be fast

I'm minded to agree, have we got evidence that these massive wind farms are being invested in in the UK though?

Thought Tories didn't want any on shore renewable energy, presume these all off shore. They need to allow inland renewables too!

have we got evidence that these massive wind farms are being invested in in the UK though?

Yes! Get of social media and educate yourself by reading the company reports!

if they were, we'd still have gas storage in this country so wouldn't need to buy gas on open market

If we still had the gas storage that closed, it would have delayed having to buy gas on the open market by just ten days.

The planet cannot stand any additional fossil fuel extraction. Using the Russian war as an excuse to unlock even more carbon from where it's stored safely in the ground as gas and oil shows a total misunderstanding of the severity of the climate crisis.