Energy plan a delicate task

Government to release strategy

ANNOUNCING A new energy strategy amid the complex state of affairs tied to oil and gas resources is an unenviable task for Ministers, and one that cannot please everyone.

Chief among the issues at play domestically is the rising cost of various bills for households across the country.

Prime Minister

Boris Johnson said the Government would do “everything we can to help people with the energy price spikes” while acknowledging that they are exacerbated by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Our reliance on Russian oil and gas must be massively curtailed – a point only emphasised more by disturbing allegations of war crimes against Ukrainians – but to sever that resource means Europe and the UK needs to produce more of its own energy. Yorkshire is a leader in the renewables sector and what has been called a green “revolution” across the North. However in a sign of how scarce resources might become,

Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng announced this week that the Government had commissioned the British Geological Survey (BGS) to advise on the latest scientific evidence around shale gas extraction after a moratorium in November 2019 related to tremors.

He acknowledged that “fracking in England would take years of exploration and development before commercial quantities of gas could be produced for the market”, having no effect in the short-term.

The debate on fracking is so polarised, though, that any outcome BGS advice could be toxic for the Government.

Complicating this further for Ministers with one eye on electorial prospects is new research suggesting “Red Wall” areas in Yorkshire including Bradford, Doncaster and Rotherham are among the most exposed to the costof-living crisis. Whatever is announced, they must ease the devastating financial pressures on so many families fearing hardship.