TIME TO REMAKE "GOD'S OWN COUNTRY"
Yorkshire is renowned for its spectacular landscapes, castles and cathedrals, and decent portion sizes. But it’s also known as a heartland of British industry. With the production of Sheffield steel and Yorkshire coal, we were at the heart of the industrial revolution that made the UK the wealthiest country in the world.
Today, though, the average Yorkshire family is likely to be just over half as well off as the average Dutch family.
We need to get back to an economy that delivers secure jobs that pay well – not by returning to the industries of the past, but with new ideas.
In recent years clean energy projects, like offshore windfarms, have helped to create more secure jobs and cut energy bills – but Yorkshire is still in need of new infrastructure and industries.
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Actions to make Britain Energy secure by 2030
A playbook for energy security
From 2020 to 2022, international gas prices surged by 400%. This led to a 235% rise in household electricity bills. In other words, every £1 rise in international gas prices led to a 58p rise in the electricity bills paid by British families.
We recently published The Powerbook which includes 25 actions for energy security to stop this from happening in future.
The challenge
The price of solar, onshore wind, and offshore wind have fallen by 62%, 55%, and 75% in under a decade. The main obstacles to generating more energy from wind and solar now are a broken planning system and archaic regulation for grid connections.
It is not inevitable that it should take 12 years to build a new wind farm, 4 years to build a new solar farm, or 8 years to build a new transmission line to take energy to where it is most needed.
Let's get building
To make Britain energy secure, we will need to more than triple the amount of energy generated from offshore wind, connect two new nuclear power stations to the grid, and build more grid infrastructure in the next seven years than was built in the last 32. It will mean accelerating the development of technologies such as hydrogen, batteries, and small modular reactors.
The challenge is massive – it will require genuine political will, major investments in new technologies, and innovation from industry – but so is the reward.
GETTING YORKSHIRE BACK TO WHAT IT’S GOOD AT
Britain Remade’s role is to act as a broker between our supporters in Yorkshire and politicians in Westminster. Britain Remade will campaign for practical ideas to improve Yorkshire, and make sure politicians are listening.
By investing in new clean sources of electricity and getting Yorkshire building, we can have decent jobs, affordable housing, and clean, cheaper and secure energy.
What We Are Doing in Your Area
Over the next year we’ll be hosting a series of events with Britain Remade supporters in Yorkshire. Keep an eye on this page and sign-up to the campaign for updates.