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fossil fuel

August 20 2022

Thousands To Protest UK Government Sanctioning Jackdaw Field

k999content News fossil fuel, oil and gas, oil field, pollution, protests 0

The UK government approved the Jackdaw gas field on June 1 and it is set to draw mass protests of ‘thousands of people across the UK’ during August 20 to August 27. The Jackdaw project is expected to come online in the mid-2020s, and at peak production rates using latest mining plants and equipment, could represent over 6% of projected UK North Sea gas production in the middle of this decade, with operational emissions of less than 1% of the whole UK basin. This is expected to provide sufficient energy to heat 1.4 million homes. It is worth noting that Jackdaw is a part of Shell’s broader intent to invest $20 to $25 billion in the UK energy system in the next decade, 75 percent of which will go to the development of low and zero-carbon products and services.

The #StopCambo movement, named after the protests against Shell’s Cambo oilfield project, is similar to other global protests against climate change caused by oil and gas project activities. It said on its website that the decision of the UK government to approve Jackdaw on June 1 was placing ‘the narrow interests of Shell and its shareholders over the public good.’ The #StopCambo campaign is made up of individuals, grassroots groups, and organizations across Scotland, the rest of the UK, and the world who are dedicated to ending all new oil and gas extraction and bringing existing production within safe climate limits. “We won’t let that stand. We’re going to pressure the UK government to reverse their decision on Jackdaw and use every tool we can to delay and eventually stop this field. Jackdaw is the largest gas field to be approved since the IEA said we can’t have any newer fossil fuel projects if we want to stay within safe climate limits. Jackdaw’s gas won’t lower energy bills but burning it would create the same amount of pollution as half of Scotland’s.” the activists said.

Cambo and Jackdaw are not the only targets for the activists as, in times when options to decarbonize the oil and gas industry are being explored, the UK wants to approve dozens of new fossil fuel projects by the year 2025 and is set to launch another licensing round for new oil and gas exploration this fall. Aside from the Jackdaw project, Shell intends to build two new floating offshore wind farms around the Scottish coast by leveraging steel fabrication products, which could power six million homes, along with a target of having 100,000 public EV charge points operational in the UK by 2030. “Starting on August 20, we’re taking the fight back to the Government, to Shell, and to every oil and gas producer who thinks that they can burn our future and get away with it. We will not let them go ahead with Jackdaw, and we will continue to build a coalition strong enough to force the government to commit to no new fossil fuels and a just transition for all.”

“We’ve stopped Shell once already. Last year it pulled out of the huge Cambo oil field in the North Sea because of our actions. We can do it again,” the #StopCambo movement said. The activists claimed that they would pressure as many MP and MSPs as possible to commit to doing everything that they can to stop Jackdaw and all new fossil fuels – from asking for a meeting with them, pushing for a response on Twitter, challenging them publicly, etc.

April 16 2022

New UK Strategy To Allow Greater Energy Independence

k999content News energy, fossil fuel, oil and gas, UK 0

The UK has revealed its new British Energy Security Strategy which will accelerate the deployment of different energy sources like wind, new nuclear, solar, and hydrogen while supporting the production of domestic oil and gas. This strategy will also see a significant upgrade of nuclear energy capabilities, with up to 24GW by 2050 expected to come from this safe, clean, and reliable source of power. This would represent up to around 25 percent of the UK’s projected electricity demand.

A new government body, Great British Nuclear, will be set up immediately to fast-track new energy projects which are backed by substantial funding, and will launch the $155 million Future Nuclear Enabling Fund in April. The UK could deliver up to eight reactors, equivalent to one reactor a year instead of one a decade, thus accelerating nuclear power production in Britain. As for offshore wind, the UK has set a new ambition of up to 50GW by 2030, of which up to 5GW would be obtained from floating offshore wind in deeper seas. This will be underpinned by new planning reforms to cut the approval times for new offshore wind farms from 4 years to 1 year.

The UK government is also planning a licensing round for new North Sea oil and gas mining projects to be launched later this year, with a new task force providing bespoke support to new developments – recognizing the importance of these fuels to the transition and energy security, and that producing gas in the UK has a lower carbon footprint than imported gas which makes it more environment-friendly. A Heat Pump Investment Accelerator Competition will be run in 2022 worth up to $40 million to make British heat pumps, which will reduce demand for gas. UK’s current 14GW of solar capacity is also expected to grow up to 5 times by 2035.

“We’re setting out bold plans to scale up and accelerate affordable, clean, and secure energy made in Britain, for Britain – from new nuclear to offshore wind – in the decade ahead,” UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said. “This will reduce our dependence on power sources exposed to volatile international prices we cannot control, so we can enjoy greater energy self-sufficiency with cheaper bills,” he added.

This plan is in response to rising global energy prices, caused by surging demand after the COVID-19 pandemic as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The main objective is to reduce Britain’s dependence on expensive fossil fuels, which are subject to volatile gas prices set by international markets, and boosting the country’s diverse sources of homegrown energy for greater energy security in the long term. The Government stated that the British Energy Security Strategy will increase the number of clean jobs in the UK by supporting 90,000 jobs in offshore wind, 10,000 jobs in solar power and 12,000 jobs in the UK hydrogen industry by 2030.