The outgoing chief executive of the Net Zero Technology Centre has blamed political infighting for a lack of recent progress on the energy transition.
Colette Cohen, who recently announced plans to leave the Aberdeen organisation after seven years, says the UK has “gone backwards” since the landmark COP26 climate conference in 2021.
Moreover, the industry expert lamented the use of “penalties” rather than “incentives” for the oil and gas industry, which she believes is diverting cash away from energy projects.
Ms Cohen said: “The reality is that since COP26, we have gone backwards, both in Scotland and in the UK. Partly, that is because of political turmoil – it is very hard to drive forward a big green agenda when there is infighting, and the energy minister is changing all the time.
“That hasn’t helped, and that’s just the reality.
“On top of that, we’ve had the noise of Brexit, and that hasn’t helped either. Anything that stops you working together, is going to reduce efficiencies and impact your ability to deliver.
“The North Sea doesn’t stop around the edges of the UK’s territorial waters – it connects to Norway, Denmark, and it connects to the rest of Europe.
“Then, there’s the US’ inflation reduction act (IRA). I was in the States recently and they are just going for it. They are very incentive base, positively oriented, and they want to crack on with things now, not later.
“The companies or the countries that get the most things in the ground the fastest, are absolutely going to be the winners.”
Pressure is mounting on the UK Government to come up with its own version of the IRA, amid concerns that investors will look to spend their cash in more favourable environments.
But as of yet there has been little to no movement, despite optimism that the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt would use his recent spring budget to try to level the playing field.
Moreover, North Sea oil and gas producers are still subject to the government’s windfall tax, with calls from the opposition for ministers to ratchet up the levy.
All in all it paints a somewhat sorry picture for the UK’s energy industry, at a time when many other countries are going great guns on the transition.
Ms Cohen added: “We did two really key reports – one ‘integrating energy vision’, and the other ‘closing the gap’ – and they both showed that if you want to maximise the overall value to a country, you need to lean into the problem.
“It’s not about accelerating the reduction of fossil fuels, it is actually about accelerating the delivery of all energy sources – that allows for the transition of highly skilled jobs from the oil and gas industry into alternative energy.
“At the moment, if you’re a geologist, there might be a super future in carbon sequestration, but when?
“We are not going fast enough, and on top of that we have a tendency to use penalties for the oil and gas industry, rather than incentives. Taking away profits, that you’re not immediately putting back into clean energy, isn’t going to help anyone be ready for net zero.”
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