Everything everywhere all at once approach needed to meet climate targets.
Offshore Energies UK has called for more collaboration and greater investment in UK energy production following publication of recommendations by the Climate Change Committee, its first assessment of the new Government’s progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
While the report says the government’s target of net zero emissions by 2050 is within reach, it sets out actions it believes are required to pick up the pace in transforming how we travel, live and work.
It has called on the UK Government to make electricity cheaper, including the removal of so-called policy costs currently used to incentivise the build out of renewables.
OEUK which is the leading representative body for offshore energy companies and their supply chains, today emphasises the importance of government backing for homegrown rather than imported energy, setting out steps it could take to accelerate offshore wind, the production of hydrogen at scale, and carbon capture and storage technologies, alongside oil and gas.
OEUK’s recent research shows the UK can double production of oil and gas from the North Sea, with significant benefits to emissions control, energy security, jobs and the UK economy.
The UK also has the capacity to become a major exporter of wind energy, but if it is to meet Clean Power 2030 objectives the September wind allocation round (AR7) will have to be the biggest ever with more than 8GW of new licences awarded.
OEUK’s industrial strategy white paper published last week, pointed out that secure and affordable energy must be at the heart of government industrial strategy. The government must also be clear in its backing for the sectors that currently deliver our energy, including oil and gas alongside renewables.
Commenting, OEUK policy and sustainability director Mike Tholen said:
'To keep on track with meeting the UK’s climate goals we need an approach to homegrown energy production which says we need everything, everywhere, all at once.
'While we continue to use it, this must mean support for the domestic production of oil and gas alongside the acceleration of renewables. We agree that more must be done to make it easier for UK wind projects to proceed at pace.
'We continue to engage with the Climate Change Committee and offer our full support as we work to realise our shared ambitions for the future.
'We must choose a path where we reach our climate goals in a way that builds a modern industrial Britain.
'As our report published earlier this week showed, this isn’t a choice about oil and gas versus renewables but about homegrown energy over energy which is increasingly imported. The UK offshore energy sector can, must and will continue to play an important role in building our energy and economic future.'
Source: OEUK
