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Mike Bird
@Birdyword
Sometimes I see or hear something so dismal about the UK that I actually go full circle and become slightly impressed. In a way, it's quite an achievement that the UK remains as prosperous as it does in the context of what effectively amounts to an electricity degrowth policy
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Ben Southwood
@bswud
Korea generated more 12 percent more nuclear electricity per Korean in 2024 than Britain generated TOTAL electricity per person. Nuclear power produced only 31.7 percent of South Korean electricity. x.com/HopfJames/stat…
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David Watson 🥑
Mike Bird
@Birdyword
And how are the growth rates of those countries?
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Aquaman on Fire
@tom_bond
Replying to @Birdyword
Mike, that graph cherry picks a bunch of contrasting countries. Look at other comparable, established economies rather than growing ones and you'll see they all have very similar trajectories. It's a sign of net zero, and less heavy industry, not degrowth.
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Jonathan Reddell
@ja_reddell
This is generation not consumption though? Given the integrated European electricity market I’d think the latter would be a better indicator of prosperity.
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Mike Bird
@Birdyword
They're functionally identical, it's only quite recently that the UK has been importing a double-digit % of electricity
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gary 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇯🇵🚀
@Eldenofthering
Just goes to show how wealthy we were at one point - we have just managed ride the momentum of its squandering. We are fast becoming a developing nation.
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Mike Sapiton 🇺🇦
@sapitonmix
Wow, it’s very probably the UK is now or soon will be somewhat around Ukraine’s (severely damaged generation due to years of attacks) level.
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Arthur Downing
@DowningAm
Do you think Britain's electricity system was working until the 1990s? What do the energy systems of South Korea today and Britain from 1947 to 1990 have in common?
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Overton Defenestration
@Ov__De
We normally think of countries gaining and losing wealth because of comparative advantages & productivity accruing over time. The loss of wealth OTOH is often a function of the local currency (and assets denominated in it) crashing. UK remains a finance hub, for now.
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whitherapathy
@whitherapathy
The UK's high energy prices are a huge drag on growth, but the answer is to build more renewable capacity and associated storage, not less. And nuclear of course. Always nuclear.
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Ava Eva Thornton 🌞🌶️🍋🎵🏳️‍⚧️♀️🏳️‍🌈🏖️
@AvaEvaThornton
Oh, damn, I wasn't nearly ambitious enough here
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Ava Eva Thornton 🌞🌶️🍋🎵🏳️‍⚧️♀️🏳️‍🌈🏖️
@AvaEvaThornton
At least quintuple per capita wind and nuclear capacity, at least decuple per capita solar and grid storage capacity, actively recommend, and reduce legal barriers to, increasing *electricity* consumption, including for air conditioners and 2 way heat pumps... x.com/RepealTCPA1947…
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Aquaman on Fire
@tom_bond
Mike, that graph cherry picks a bunch of contrasting countries. Look at other comparable, established economies rather than growing ones and you'll see they all have very similar trajectories. It's a sign of net zero, and less heavy industry, not degrowth.
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Roger Williams
@rjwilliams90
Bizarre that you’re impressed by this. Korea used >50x more coal than the UK in 2024. And still exported fewer goods to the UK than the UK did to Korea.
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Jayn1sh
@Jayn1sh
Completely down to the robust nature of its citizens. Even with disastrous policies the country is resilient as a people. Imagine what could happen if they were properly unleashed and unshackled by the political idiocy.
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The Education of O
@Ed_of_O
They were hit hard by the global financial crisis and their austerity afterwards. Other main cause is the loss of heavy industry. Don't believe it's an overwhelming desire for degrowth but poor recoveries from GFC that happened all over Europe.
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John Taylor
@CoppiceJT
Hey let's waste electricity in inefficient appliances and light bulbs so our per capita electricity use goes up for no good reason.
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Guy Herbert
@guy_herbert
That might just be momentum and the present government tightens the leashes day by day. 'There is a great deal of ruin in a nation.'
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GJPowell
@TheVietGwent
We're "prosperous" still for now, but at what capital flow cost has the UK been long-term financing such a now structurally permanent current account deficit...?
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EmailRua
@NotZoltanLol
just goes to show GDP of hyperfinancialized economies overstate prosperity of the average joe (or average chav in britain)
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✝️🛰♻️🛠️📈Philip Owen
@PCOwen_a
What industry went during that period? The last car, a Chinese MG, left Longbridge in 2016. ICI collapsed earler giving way to Ineos. We mostly stopped refining oil to buy it from India. Population rose. What didn't rise with it?
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