This week, everyone gets excited over the economic benefits of renewables over gas, as tax breaks for shale announced. “Fracking” becomes a household word.

First up, The Independent reported that the UK economy would be £20bn a year better off if it focused on offshore wind instead of gas.

The figures, neatly undermining the Chancellor’s announcement of a consultation on shale gas extraction on Wednesday, came from a study conducted by think-tank Cambridge Econometrics that compared the economics of gas and wind power. The Indy quotes Paul Ekins, professor of resources and environmental policy at University College London:

“Much of the debate around the choice between gas-fired and offshore wind electricity generation in the years post-2020 assumes wind is more expensive. This study represents powerful evidence to the contrary.”

Nebusiness.co.uk said that, according to the report, wind power would create up to 70,000 more jobs than gas.

CleanTechnica writes that The International Renewable Energy Association (IRENA) released a report showing that renewable energy is now the most cost-effective way of generating electricity in many places. IRENA’s innovation director Dolf Gielen says:

“A renewable revolution is underway. Recent years have seen consistent, sometimes dramatic, falls in the cost of electricity from renewables – making it the cheapest option off-grid, and even on-grid in places with plentiful resources.”

“The message is clear: renewable energy today is often the cheapest option to meet rising demand for electricity – even without subsidies. It is also healthier, and better for the environment. A renewable energy future is now bankable, and there are further cost reductions to come.”

Meanwhile, Chancellor George Osborne announced tax breaks for controversial shale gas fracking (the process of extraction) and the creation of a new body for the UK gas industry. Was anyone amused? No. No. And No.

Last week’s Energy Bill and the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on Wednesday left the energy industry still begging for decarbonisation targets. The World Energy Council, an alliance of over 3,000 energy organisations, said investors want and need “confidence in the stability of the system” and the best way to do that is to firm up all the talk with actual figures.

The Economist said that it is all too easy to be discouraged when things don’t go exactly as you want, but that everything has to start somewhere.

“The Bill is hardly perfect. And decarbonising the country’s energy supply is not the same as fighting climate change. But transforming a national energy market to make way for clean new technologies is unprecedented, so some heavy-handed experimentation is necessary. Britain’s grand tinkering may ultimately pay off.”