UK energy strategy released in full with pledge to give North Sea oil and gas ‘new lease of life’
The UK government has released its new energy security strategy in full, making pledges to invest in hydrogen and nuclear power, and pursue new fossil fuel projects in the North Sea.
The long awaited policy package sets out how the government aims to cut imports of Russian fossil fuels, make the UK energy supply secure and efficient, and takes into account the legally binding net zero targets.
In his foreword to the document Boris Johnson acknowledged rising energy costs and the role the war in Ukraine has played in fuel scarcity, stating that the “government is already stepping in to help, with over £9bn of help for families struggling with their bills”.
He said his administration is “not going to try and turn back the clock to the days when we choked our streets and our atmosphere with filthy fumes and ever-rising levels of climate-imperilling carbon dioxide”.
Instead, he said the UK must “take advantage of Britain’s inexhaustible resources of wind and – yes – sunshine”.
“We’re going to produce vastly more hydrogen, which is easy to store, ready to go whenever we need it, and is a low carbon superfuel of the future.
“We’re embracing the safe, clean, affordable new generation of nuclear reactors, taking the UK back to pre-eminence in a field where we once led the world,” Mr Johnson said.
But amid the worsening climate crisis, there are already major concerns over the government’s plans to step up fossil fuel production.
This has now been confirmed: “We’re going to make better use of the oil and gas in our own backyard by giving the energy fields of the North Sea a new lease of life,” the prime minister said.
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