The $275 Trillion Green Revolution: Will Consumers Buy It?

John Redwood, a fellow of All Souls College Oxford and a well-known commentator on economics and politics has produced this latest book on the Green Revolution.

Updating his previous work written ahead of COP 26 in Glasgow, he sets out the sheer magnitude of the ambition of the net zero campaigners. He stresses the need for massive investments in everything from renewable power to new factories, from changed domestic heating to new forms of farming. He draws out the huge costs and the difficulties of finding all the finance to carry through the plans. He points to consumer reluctance in many countries to buy heat pumps or electric cars, with most people so far finding them expensive and often not as good as the products they wish to replace. He asks who will design and make the Beetle or Mini of the car revolution? Who will find the hoover of the home heating transition? How fast can industry go in replacing gas with renewable electricity? When will the grids and power cables catch up with the potential demand? Balancing the need for security of supply with affordability and low carbon objectives is proving difficult for many countries to achieve.

John Redwood is a businessman by background who has led industrial companies and set up an investment management business. An MP since 1987, he has been a government Minister and was Head of Margaret Thatcher’s Policy Unit in her middle period in office.