Target to cripple oil and gas sector

SIR, – Nicola Sturgeon bragged that SNP climate emergency objectives for Scotland were “the best in the world” (Press & Journal October 15) and the country will meet net zero emissions by 2045.

To achieve this target would cause catastrophic harm to the North Sea oil and gas sector, which fortunately has governance reserved to Westminster and whose decisions to control and decide on a pathway to reduce fossil fuel reliance will be in partnership with oil and gas companies and environmental data partners.

As 95% of CO2 emissions come from petroleum and gas-consuming machinery, including all land and airborne transportation, electricity production, manufacturing and industrial processing, it is ridiculous to expect conversion to green electric energy in such a short timescale.

Currently in Scotland up to

2.5 million homes would have to convert from gas or oil or solid fuel to green electric. Cars and vans (2019 figures from the RAC suggest 2.6m in Scotland) would also have to be scrapped and new electric ones bought, as would freight trains, heavy goods vehicles and aircraft. Shipping companies would also be affected.

Having rapid-charge infrastructure in place for millions of cars and vans would have to be financed and this would not come from the North sea tax take with this self-defeating policy.

Huge re-equipping costs to manufacturers and industrial process companies would be crippling, as would costs to millions of householders and motorists, with transport firms forking out to satisfy a half-baked political policy that does not address the real cause of CO2 emissions from countries such as China, the US, India, Russia, Japan and the EU.

Making bold claims like zero emissions is as gratuitous as previous SNP claims of Scotland being the next Norway with

billions of pounds in reserves and billions of barrels of oil and shale gas to finance the country. Alas, that was not true either.

Angus McNair, Farnachty, Clochan, Buckie