With COP26 in Glasgow two months away, one might think Scottish political eyes would be turning towards the issues it will discuss, even if that means parking some other preoccupations for the time being. Not so.
The demolition of the chimney stacks at SSE’s Ferrybridge power station on 21 August was a powerful symbol of the progress the UK has made in weaning itself off emitting carbon dioxide. Less than a decade ago, more than 40% of the UK’s electricity was produced from coal-fired power stations like Ferrybridge. Today the figure is more like 2%. And the UK government is committed to getting rid of the last vestiges of coal by 2025.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” - Spanish philosopher George Santayana.
I'm sure that anyone reading this article will agree that there is still a long way to go in terms of removing the stigma around Mental Health. We know and understand that mental health difficulties can be supported and treated. So why are we typically so slow to ask for the help that we need?
I like to think that by now nobody in Scotland with an IQ greater than 1 hasn’t realised that climate change is a real and present danger. The IPCC “Code Red” report, record temperatures, destructive floods and the very disturbing news that the Gulf Stream is showing signs of slowing down is surely enough to convince even the most stubborn that we really do need to phase out the burning of fossil fuels and make other quite dramatic changes to how we live and work.
It is all too often incredibly difficult to determine the truth in this day and age, especially in the murky worlds of politics and Big Business.
The UK economy depends on secure, affordable and increasingly lower carbon sources of energy. Under all scenarios, hydrocarbons will continue to play an important role to 2050 and beyond.
How can continuing to extract oil and gas from beneath our seas play a role in tackling climate change? Shouldn’t we just shut down North Sea production now?
Would you have guessed that the OGA has already been with us for six years? The extensive powers it was given in the Energy Act 2016 have been in force for nearly five years: those include the ability to impose sanctions on companies for breaching a licence or their obligations under that act, or for failing to comply with the OGA Strategy.
This year is set to be one like no other for the UK’s changing offshore oil and gas industry.
Hydrogen is the answer to decarbonising transport. This alternative environmentally friendly fuel can be rolled out across the UK without government subsidies and at no cost to the taxpayer – confining petrol and diesel to the dark pages of history.
Precisely 101 years ago this month, American women got the constitutional right to vote.
The flexibility, skills and savings offered by contractors mean energy companies must learn to cope with IR35 reform
This is what Energy & Climate Change Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan had to say about the recent hydrogen strategy:
European governments have ambitiously raised targets for the energy transition, aiming for a net-zero carbon economy by 2050. In turn, there has been a significant push towards renewables and other low-carbon energy solutions. As Pierre Georges, Sector Lead for EMEA Utilities at S&P Global Ratings, explains, utilities that are aligned with these objectives are set to perform better over the coming decade
The COP26 conference in Glasgow in November 2021 will look to accelerate a global drive towards a net-zero economy. However, global climate policies have little relevance to the people of Africa, where the current energy mix is dominated by biomass and fossil fuels, argues David Clark, CEO of Vysus Group.
Reaching net zero is going to be one of the toughest challenges of our generation.
As Cop26 draws closer and closer, Scotland has the opportunity to show its strengths in renewable energy technologies and climate change initiatives.
Blue hydrogen is often touted as a low-carbon fuel for generating electricity and storing energy, powering cars, trucks and trains and heating buildings. But according to a new report by Cornell and Stanford University researchers in the US, it may be no better for the climate – and potentially a fair bit worse – than continuing to use fossil natural gas, which currently keeps 85% of UK homes warm. In the US, about half of all homes use natural gas for space and water heating.
We welcome the UK Government’s hydrogen strategy today, it’s a clear sign of the UK’s ambition to be a hydrogen leader and commitment to support a new green sector that will create jobs across the UK.
Oil and gas faces an existential crisis as global efforts to reduce carbon emissions gather strength and pace. In this new paradigm, definition and assessment of risk is critical.
Scotland, along with the rest of the world, stands on the cusp of change as the energy transition accelerates, writes bp’s Richard Haydock who joins the panel of the Energy Voice New Energy Opportunities (NEO) event.
With COP26 coming to Glasgow later this year, demonstrating a leading effort in sustainability and the energy transition has never been more important to Scotland. Yet despite the innovation and drive behind Scotland’s green efforts, barriers to renewable jobs are causing a talent gap impacting the sustainable jobs market and will likely begin to hinder the country’s sustainable progress in the future.
To say that the oil and gas industry has had a lot to contend with over the past year would be putting it lightly.
There’s much talk about the ambitious targets that have been put in place to reduce the level of production emissions in the North Sea so that it becomes a net zero basin by 2050.