A change of power
Our dependency on fossil fuels is driving the climate change crisis but alternatives are available if leaders have the courage to commit to them
China burns more coal than the rest of the world put together. And while governments like to look green, they struggle to make the difficult political decisions that would bring these targets closer. Wind farms are seldom popular with communities. Councillors in north Wales recently knocked back an offshore scheme for 48 100ft turbines because they would ruin the view. Plans to extend the Rampion wind farm off the Sussex coast are also not going down well. A huge scheme off Orkney that could generate power for two million homes is at an early stage, yet Boris Johnson has backed the development of the
Cambo oil field off Shetland, containing 170million barrels of oil.
Climate activists are disappointed that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, heading an SNP-Green governmental alliance, has not stood up to the Prime Minister on this issue.
Cambo is not the only development being planned. A public inquiry is looking into Whitehouse Colliery in Cumbria, which would be the UK’s first new deep coal mine for decades.
If it goes ahead it will produce coking coal for steel mills in the UK and Europe. The steel industry is a major carbon producer – it’s reckoned to account for between seven and nine per cent of the world’s emissions.
The argument for sinking a new mine 40 years after former PM
Margaret Thatcher effectively closed down the UK coal industry is that British steel makers still need fuel.
The company behind Whitehouse says that if it doesn’t get the green light, manufacturers will have to transport coal from abroad, adding to the metal’s carbon footprint.
But there are alternatives. More than 100 steel plants around the world use natural gas, which emits 35 per cent less carbon than a coke-fired blast furnace.
Gas-fired plants then face another issue – wild fluctuations in gas prices. This month, the steel industry, along with paper and ceramics, appealed to Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng for help to cope with rocketing prices.
At a domestic level, the prospect of sky high gas bills has concentrated consumers’ minds on the energy industry. And when voters grumble, politicians must act. Kwarteng tweeted that UK exposure to volatile global gas prices “underscores the importance” of building a strong, homegrown renewable energy sector.
It is easy for politicians to talk. The Scottish Government has impressive energy policies and ambitious emissions targets including reaching net zero by 2045 rather than 2050.
When Alex Salmond was first minister, he claimed Scotland had the potential to be the “Saudi Arabia of renewables”. PM Johnson followed him last year, saying: “As Saudi Arabia is to oil, the UK is to wind.”
But does the reality meet the fine phrases? The figures for 2019 show that, while emissions fell by 51.5 per cent, that was less than the target of 55 per cent. Net zero is a long way off.