The REA (Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology) has responded to the UK government’s announcement of expansion of oil and gas drilling in the North Sea by saying that to achieve real energy security, London should be investing in a transition to a low-carbon economy and renewables.
The response came after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed “hundreds” of new oil and gas licences will be granted in the UK, stating this would help the country achieve net zero carbon emissions and strengthen its energy independence and reduce reliance on hostile states such as Russia.
However, the REA claims issuing new oil and gas licences, while the UK carbon price is also decreasing, is not compatible with the country’s climate goals.
Furthermore, to achieve real energy security, it claims London should be investing in a just transition to a low-carbon economy and the country’s own abundant range of renewables and clean technologies, thus reducing reliance on volatile fossil fuels.
As the US and EU push forward in attracting low carbon investment, the REA said the UK has been sending confusing signals on its climate priorities to the global community and risks falling behind.
“If the government is serious about delivering energy security while reaching net zero in a pragmatic way, it should be accelerating the cheapest forms of energy,” said REA chief executive Nina Skorupska (pictured).
“This means low carbon projects are unaffected by changes in the volatile fossil energy markets, the cause of both increased energy costs and security concerns.
“Instead, today, the government is supporting new fossil fuel exploration while support mechanisms such as the US Inflation Reduction Act and the UK government’s Electricity Generator Levy, a windfall tax on renewables, is seeing the UK attractiveness for low carbon investment diminish.
“Real energy security will be delivered by reinforcing our grid systems and sorting out planning delays so that low carbon generation can be built quickly.
“The development of CCUS should also be targeted at bioenergy applications, not capturing carbon that should stay in the ground. Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage delivers critical negative emissions recognised as essential for getting to net zero.”