The war in Ukraine has jolted European politicians into finally understanding that overdependence on imported energy can carry extreme risks. What they haven’t understand yet though is that you can’t just turn off one set of taps and turn on another.
The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has made a rebrand to the North Sea Transition Authority - here's the industry reaction to the move.
There are those that only talk about Net Zero – the “talkers”, those that are forever preparing Net Zero plans and studies – the “ditherers”, and those who are really getting on with implementing genuine Net Zero – the “doers”.
Europe is too reliant on Russian gas. In fact, Europe is too reliant on gas full stop but it being mainly Russian gas makes it even more problematic.
Reaction to news that the leading trade body for the North Sea, Oil and Gas UK (OGUK), is rebranding has varied from claims of it being a “PR stunt” to praise for a move that’s “not before time”.
I’m a little bemused. Inevitably the ScotWind lease awards were going to trigger all sorts of claims about how the Scottish offshore wind supply chain will gain from this huge project, but nobody seems prepared to explain exactly how this will happen given that we don’t actually have a supply chain of any note particularly when it comes to the high value hardware.
Building an additional 10GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 is an important piece of the jigsaw puzzle that makes up Scotland’s plans to try to reach Net Zero. ScotWind will be ground-breaking both in terms of size and opportunity.
I read with wry amusement that some 58 of Aberdeen’s great and good have written to the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and other political leaders asking for a “more reasoned debate” on the future of oil and gas.
The whisky industry has been quick to recognise the potential for green hydrogen to reduce its carbon footprint.
Let’s face it, 2021 was a terrible year.
The “electrify everything” lobbying brigade has just been deal a damaging blow.
Removing, breaking, and recycling what we can of redundant offshore oil and gas infrastructure is a huge task but worth many hundreds of millions of pounds to those fortunate enough to win the work.
I have long been an advocate for the renationalisation of energy. My father was a veteran of both the pre-WW2 private electricity industry and post war nationalisation.
A leading energy adviser has lamented the decision to award a contract for a major Scottish hydrogen project to a company from Norway.
The UK Government has pledged to support the advancement of both green and blue hydrogen as part of plans to create a “thriving” low carbon sector.
The United Nations climate change conference which is to be held in Glasgow in November should be a source of inspiration and an opportunity for Scottish industry to showcase its Net Zero manufacturing supply chain.
Sir Ian Wood has unveiled ambitious plans to help the north-east economy capitalise on the energy transition, potentially creating “thousands” of jobs in the process.
News that the COP 25 meeting in Madrid ended in a not very satisfactory compromise doesn’t exactly fill me with hope that the world’s leaders have really got a grip of how serious the “climate emergency” really is.
Well I think 2019 has been a terrible year.
The Aberdeen-based Oil and Gas Technology Centre (OGTC) is setting up a unit called the Net Zero Solution Centre with the aim of “accelerating technologies and their deployment” and helping turn the UKCS into the world’s first net-zero carbon basin.
In 2013 I had the honour of being a member of Scotland’s Independent Expert Commission on Oil and Gas.
In the week or so before I sat down at my desk to write this column, four important and potentially linked events took place.
If you’ve read the report by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) entitled “Net Zero: The UK’s contribution to stopping global warming” then I hope you’re both as impressed with it as I am, but also horrified.
Attenborough: "Things are going to get worse".
Aberdeen has lost its focus on being the energy capital of Europe, it has been claimed.