The Scottish Government has set a target of becoming a net zero carbon nation by 2045 and is aiming to more than double its current renewable electricity generation by 2030. Its big bet to achieve this is wind power, given its low cost and the large potential for viable installations in North Sea waters.
By Andy Macdonald, director of development and operations, ORE Catapult
It is now over a year since the ScotWind leasing process created the opportunity for an additional 27.6GW of offshore wind in Scottish waters. Of the 20 projects that came through the application process, 14 are set to use floating wind turbines, positioning Scotland as a world leader in this technology. Whilst the scale of the result was eye catching, the accompanying Scottish supply chain commitments of over £28bn was perhaps the most significant result.
By Stuart Haszeldine, SCCS Director and Professor of Carbon Capture & Storage, University of Edinburgh
A defining moment doesn’t happen often. But Spring Budget 2023 will likely be viewed from mid-century as the time when the UK fully committed to Carbon Capture and Storage.
By Stuart Payne, chief executive of the North Sea Transition Authority
It’s hard to know what to expect from 7,500 members of the global energy industry gathered in one convention centre in an American town best known for space travel, cowboys, and Tex-Mex food. Of course it was Texans, back in 1970s that came over to Aberdeen, and led the charge for drilling in the North Sea, something that they went on to do in oil and gas provinces around the world. This week however was about the energy world coming to Texas - at what has become known as the Davos of energy.
The contest to become leader of the Scottish National Party and First Minister of Scotland did not get off to an auspicious start. The first week was largely devoted to arguing about the place of God in politics.
One of my old friends, a Norwegian by the name of Reidar Niemi who ran Stolt Nielsen’s subsea business in Aberdeen in the early 80s once asked me “what the hell is the matter with your (expletive deleted) Scottish banks?”.
My husband and I are in the process of moving from Aberdeen, UK to Houston, Texas. Surprisingly enough, not because of his engineering career in Oil & Gas, but because I am a Chartered International Financial Planner.
Replace oil and gas? Anyone connected to the Scottish energy sector knows that the investment in creating those high skill, high value, high wage jobs simply isn’t happening on anything like the scale it needs to, writes Dick Winchester.
If the Russian invasion of Ukraine has taught us anything it’s that war isn’t now so much a matter of slugging it out hand to hand on the battlefield and firing big lumps of metal at each other, although sadly that still happens, but increasingly about making far greater use of remote controlled and autonomous or semi autonomous weaponry.
While the country cries out for cheap electricity, it seems perverse to fork out hundreds of millions of pounds to pay wind farm operators not to generate electricity.
By Angus Milne, regional offshore manager O&G, at DNV
The continual clamour to stop fossil fuel production is both powerful and persuasive. But should this heartfelt passion for net zero trump the dull pragmatism of energy supply? What will the journey to net zero really look like?
By Dr Brenda Hector MBA, Entrepreneur and Business Growth Specialist ActionCOACH
80% of small business owners admit to suffering from poor mental health according to a recent study by Mental Health UK. Symptoms reported include poor focus, anxiety, sleep disruption, panic attacks and depression. Much information is available regarding supporting staff's mental health, but what about the bosses themselves?
By Ed Reynolds, Vice President of Completions, Commissioning & Start-Up Americas at Kent.
In a time when we rely so heavily on innovation and technology to support a predictable project schedule, have we lost sight of what strengthens a team and what's needed to make that deadline when push comes to shove?
By Ian Spencer, Head of Business Development at H2 Green
A quiet revolution is taking place across the Highlands of Scotland, as a drive towards a green hydrogen economy is leading the decarbonisation of the transportation of goods across the region.