Ramping up our gas supply should be just the first step
THE revelation that North Sea gas production is being ramped up in the wake of the war in Ukraine may have enraged the Scottish Government, which only a few short weeks ago aimed for the “fastest possible managed and just transition away from dependence on oil and gas”.
But weeks, as we now see, can be a long time not only in politics but in global military and energy security, and urgent measures necessary to tackle this crisis – often amounting to reversals of previous policies – have been adopted by countries around the world. In the North Sea, that means nine fields either producing or starting up in weeks, and consideration for development for yet more in the coming months.
In the case of the EU, dependent on Russia for 40 per cent of its gas supplies, this is a fully-fledged emergency; it illustrates the importance of alternatives, and the short-sightedness of irrevocably shutting down those options. Though the UK, which imports only around four per cent of its gas from Russia, is in a stronger position, the spike in energy costs – under way even before Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked aggression compounded the issue and forced Western governments to act – is still an almost existential threat to our economy, and the major component in an impending cost-of-living crisis that will have a significant impact on all of us.
Energy Action Scotland’s estimate that 57 per cent of those living in the Western Isles are about to be plunged into fuel poverty is just one example; meanwhile, the cost of diesel has gone above £2 a litre in some areas, and the removal of the price cap on domestic energy at the end of this month will see many households’ monthly bills double, or even worse. In March last year, gas cost 50p per therm; earlier this month the price reached £5.
In the face of all this, Holyrood’s decision to rule out Cambo looks as if it was too hasty and dogmatic. That is not to criticise the general direction of travel; Scotland is blessed with its renewable resources, and
it is more clear than ever that developing those assets must be accelerated, and that the current crisis should not derail that effort. But it will not provide immediate solutions. If the UK Government (apparently as sincere and ambitious in its professed transition to such sources) lifts its foot from the brake on oil and gas, that should be considered a temporary fix – even if it is a necessary one.
But much more than just easing supply will be required. For businesses and domestic customers alike, energy is simply unaffordable – which will soon mean everything else is too. A cut in VAT (which is boosting the Government’s receipts) would be one obvious measure, as would emulating the Irish government by introducing a reduction, even if a temporary one, in fuel duty. Though the latter has been frozen for 12 years, those two taxes still account for around half the cost at the pumps, and cripple industry, agriculture and retail businesses, especially in rural Scotland.
The invasion of Ukraine has hugely amplified this problem, but it is hardly the sole cause. We need to look hard at energy dependency and exploit the considerable potential of renewables even more quickly, but in the short term, there is no point in ruling out other options on ideological grounds.
FEW will mourn the demise, announced by North Lanarkshire Council, of the brutalist “plook on the plinth”, or the Centre Cumbernauld, to give it its official name. This 55-year-old, 300,000sq ft eyesore, heralded during construction as worthy of Leonardo da Vinci, has – to put it mildly – not worn well. Even by the early 1980s, when Gregory’s Girl introduced the world to “well-known facts” about the town just 9,000 miles from Caracas, the charm of its 1960s vision of the future looked decidedly dated. The lesson, during the planned £3.5 billion redevelopment of the town, must surely be to be highly suspicious of architectural fashion, and to concentrate instead on quality, function, beauty and value for its residents.