Interesting article in the Gurdian this week. According to Professor David MacKay, chief scientific adviser to the Department of Energy and Climate change, if we do nothing to develop low-carbon energy systems – and busting the UK's carbon targets – it would cost us each about £4,682 a year, spent on imported gas for electricity generation and heating and oil for all vehicles - and this doesn't include the further damage to the economy expected as a result of climate change.
The government's "higher renewables, more energy efficiency" scenario, in which wind delivers 55% of the total electricity supply and all cars and buses are fuelled by batteries or hydrogen fuel cells, is forecast to cost £368 a year (8%) more than the "do nothing" scenario, if climate change damage is ignored. If the writer of this piece was going to be around in 2050 he certainly knows which option he'd prefer!
You can read the whole article here.