The UK Government has announced its choice of the East Coast Cluster and HyNet North West to develop as the UK’s first Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) clusters by the mid-2020s. The Scottish Cluster has been named as a reserve project.
I’ve just received a round-robin email from Greenpeace calling on Brits to tweet Boris and kill off North Sea oil & gas right now.
Spiralling gas prices and shortages of fuel on the UK’s forecourts have brought into sharp focus the importance of ensuring policy protects the country’s energy supplies throughout the energy transition.
Extreme and tragic weather has brought the issue of climate change back to the spotlight, reinforcing why the issue needs to be top of the global political agenda.
As we approach the COP26 Climate Conference which begins in Glasgow on 31st October, it feels as if the oil and gas industry has never been more in the political spotlight.
Starting a new job during the pandemic was a daunting task, especially given the uncertainty not just in our industry but globally caused by the pandemic.
Whatever message is drawn, the current explosion of interest in energy policy should ensure that realism impinges upon the rhetoric which will accompany COP26. Virtue alone does not keep the lights on.
“Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction,” a quote attributed to John C Crosby, and one which strikes a chord with me.
Is it my imagination or are things looking up a bit on the renewables front here in Scotland?
As in life, the Energy Transition and achievement of Net Zero, in my mind, is about balance.
“Christmas is on … this is a short-term problem” Prime Minister Boris Johnson told journalists recently when quizzed about the gas price surge and the knock-on impacts it might have on food, energy bills – and the imminent COP26 climate negotiations.
Everybody loves a big-budget, blockbuster sequel. Half a century after the original and long-running oil boom adventure, the North Sea is poised to repeat and surpass that success with an even bigger net-zero carbon and renewable follow-up: the £16 billion North Sea Transition Deal.
I have long been an advocate for the renationalisation of energy. My father was a veteran of both the pre-WW2 private electricity industry and post war nationalisation.
As the UK Government works to protect consumers through the global gas price spike, ministers have a simple, no-cost lever to pull on.
With COP26 approaching, amid reports that police are preparing for major civic disruption, there are also plans that the Scottish criminal courts may be opened for extra sessions to deal with a potentially high number of arrests during the conference.
With COP26 in Glasgow two months away, one might think Scottish political eyes would be turning towards the issues it will discuss, even if that means parking some other preoccupations for the time being. Not so.
The demolition of the chimney stacks at SSE’s Ferrybridge power station on 21 August was a powerful symbol of the progress the UK has made in weaning itself off emitting carbon dioxide. Less than a decade ago, more than 40% of the UK’s electricity was produced from coal-fired power stations like Ferrybridge. Today the figure is more like 2%. And the UK government is committed to getting rid of the last vestiges of coal by 2025.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” - Spanish philosopher George Santayana.
I'm sure that anyone reading this article will agree that there is still a long way to go in terms of removing the stigma around Mental Health. We know and understand that mental health difficulties can be supported and treated. So why are we typically so slow to ask for the help that we need?
I like to think that by now nobody in Scotland with an IQ greater than 1 hasn’t realised that climate change is a real and present danger. The IPCC “Code Red” report, record temperatures, destructive floods and the very disturbing news that the Gulf Stream is showing signs of slowing down is surely enough to convince even the most stubborn that we really do need to phase out the burning of fossil fuels and make other quite dramatic changes to how we live and work.
It is all too often incredibly difficult to determine the truth in this day and age, especially in the murky worlds of politics and Big Business.
The UK economy depends on secure, affordable and increasingly lower carbon sources of energy. Under all scenarios, hydrocarbons will continue to play an important role to 2050 and beyond.
How can continuing to extract oil and gas from beneath our seas play a role in tackling climate change? Shouldn’t we just shut down North Sea production now?
Would you have guessed that the OGA has already been with us for six years? The extensive powers it was given in the Energy Act 2016 have been in force for nearly five years: those include the ability to impose sanctions on companies for breaching a licence or their obligations under that act, or for failing to comply with the OGA Strategy.
This year is set to be one like no other for the UK’s changing offshore oil and gas industry.