There are suggestions that the energy industry will invest £20bn on UK projects to extract oil and gas over the next four years as part of a drive to gain a secure supply of affordable energy. This interesting article in The Guardian questions what portion will go into renewable energy supply.
The article states: “Of the 49 current oil and gas producers in the North Sea, only 11 companies also generate renewable energy in the UK. Even this doesn’t mean that the power they produce reaches UK households, though: some produce electricity solely for powering oil and gas infrastructure. The UK public gain nothing from this.
Is this the kind of investment the prime minister wants to see more of? Precious little or no renewable energy production…last year, the government produced a plan – the North Sea Transition Deal – that failed to include any binding targets on the industry to either reduce its emissions or invest in renewable energy.”
The author, Tessa Khan of the campaign organisation Uplift, argued that last month’s energy security strategy was another gift to the industry.
“It doubled down on new oil and gas drilling, announcing a new round of oil and gas licences and a process to speed up the approval of new projects, such as Cambo, Clair South and Shell’s Jackdaw gas field. According to Friends of the Earth Scotland, if approved, Jackdaw would provide only about 1% to 2% of UK gas demand over its lifetime but the same amount of pollution as half of Scotland’s annual emissions. The government’s energy strategy came just three days after the IPCC issued its starkest warning yet that existing and planned fossil fuel infrastructure will push us past the limits for a livable climate.
Read the full article here:
