Simon Evans

"High temperatures have meant London Ambulance Service (LAS) was busier in June than it was during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn8npy5nn61o

REMINDER: As UK govt launches consultation on weaker EV targets, worth noting that this could cost consumers £3bn a year by 2030 (cos EVs are far cheaper to own)

It could also add 8% to net oil imports and undermine UK's single-biggest climate policy

https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-weaker-ev-targets-could-cost-uk-consumers-3bn-a-year-by-2030

1. The Daily Telegraph

Frontpage story: "Wildfires close in on Sizewell [nuclear plant]" Also in the paper: "As wildfires rage, Britain isn't ready…"

Meanwhile: "Rewilding blamed for…wildfire" "Net-zero…'raises risk of wildfires'" "emptying countryside…vulnerable to blazes"

Q&A: Does the world need 'carbon-capture and storage' to reach net-zero?

Described by IPCC as "critical", it has repeatedly fallen short

Today, it captures just 0.2% of global CO2 from fossil fuels

Great piece by my colleague Josh Gabbatiss

https://www.carbonbrief.org/qa-does-the-world-need-carbon-capture-and-storage-to-reach-net-zero

Reform UK's Richard Tice: "When it’s a bit warm, let’s enjoy it…rather than just be doom and gloom about it."

Met Office: More than 2,700 heat deaths
NHS: More 999 calls than Covid
Farmers: "Brutal harvest…one of the worst ever"
Your own eyes: "Inferno…fires engulf…homes"

1. The Daily Mail

Double-page spread: “Evacuate! ‘Out of control wildfire…fears for Sizewell” Lead comment slot: “Why the flames…have been fanned by the Green agenda”

NEW ANALYSIS: Weaker EV targets could cost UK consumers £3bn a year by 2030

* EVs are much cheaper to own
* Weaker targets means fewer EVs
* Fewer EVs means higher costs
* It could also raise UK net oil imports by 8% in 2030 (!) and CO2 by 2.5%

https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-weaker-ev-targets-could-cost-uk-consumers-3bn-a-year-by-2030

1. The Times

Frontpage: “Wildfire in Suffolk near nuclear plant” Comment article: “Wildfires suggest rewilding needs a rethink”

Bordeaux wildfire.

Wind and solar have now beaten fossil fuels in Great Britain for a record 15 months in a row

Just a decade ago, fossil fuels were generating four times more than wind + solar

Now that's flipped: Since the Iran war, wind and solar generated twice as much as fossil fuels

FACTCHECK – FALSE: US energy secretary Chris Wright thinks coal will still be world's top source of electricity "when I die". But solar is set to overtake coal in the early 2030s – and wind soon after.

EV sales surged everywhere apart from the US, rising more than 20% globally in 2025

• EVs were half of Chinese sales and electric truck sales in China tripled
• EV sales outside CN/Eu/US grew 80% (!)

10/10

Octopus boss Greg Jackson says we are facing "unprecedented technology change" such as "astonishing" drop in cost of batteries

Says flexibility from eg EV charging and V2G is "the system of the future"

European battery capacity is expected to grow 5x in 5 years to 2030, says Aurora's Richard Howard – but it will still be behind the US

Hoo boy, the scrooges at the Daily Telegraph are now railing against people in poverty being able to heat their homes properly after they get insulation?

It says the govt is "sitting on evidence" in a report commissioned and published by…the govt

🤡🤡🤡

Battery storage is now the fastest-growing power technology in the world

• 108GW added in 2025, up 40% year-on-year
• 11x increase in installed capacity since 2021 (!)

6/10

FACTCHECK: What the UK car industry is not saying about EV targets

Despite all the "demand is falling short" narratives, they're actually smashing it!

The industry has so far "over-complied" with the ZEV mandate – and it's on track for this year too

https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-what-the-uk-car-industry-is-not-saying-about-ev-targets/

NEW: How is the UK govt aiming to "break the link between gas and electricity prices" – and will it work?

While headlines “suggest a decisive shift", says Aurora's Marc Hedin, "the reality is more incremental”

+ comments from UKERC, Regen & more

https://www.carbonbrief.org/qa-how-the-uk-government-aims-to-break-link-between-gas-and-electricity-prices/

Dependencies on Chinese cleantech are very different to relying on Russian gas, says Dr Michal Median

"It's not a useful comparison," as one is stocks, the other flows

But, says Median, Chinese dependency could still come with "significant" political and geopolitical trade offs

Dr Nagat Karroum, Uniper Renewables, says that Europe could – technically – manufacture everything domestically for clean-energy expansion (rather than buying from China).

But she adds that this would come with trade-offs in terms of cost and speed of deployment.

Reowering: Scottish Power boss Keith Anderson says 40-50% of the UK's onshore wind projects are coming to the end of their lives in the next decade

Says he's concerned that grid queue reform didn't take this into account

Interesting talk from Aurora's Dan Monzani on how to cut electricity bills

Highlights key role for electrification in cutting unit prices, by spreading fixed investment costs – in grid etc – across a larger pool of demand