To wonder why the government quango refused to allow a new North Sea gas field to be opened in the midst of an energy crisis??

[BristolBaker]

Do you know that earlier this week Shell’s application to develop a new North Sea gas filed (Jackdaw) was refused by a government quango?
In the current climate, AIBU to think that this is absolutely and utterly bonkers?

I’m well aware we need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, but unfortunately until we have greater capacity on line from renewables we have to accept that gas/coal/oil need to be an ongoing part of our energy resource.
To do otherwise is just shooting ourselves in the foot.

Source was a DT article but also available from other news outlets.
www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-regulator-rejects-shells-plans-develop-jackdaw-gasfield-sources-2021-10-06/

Gah, field not filed

Hasn’t anyone heard about this and doesn’t it strike you as being a bit odd?

Yes, did know about this - Shell’s Environmental Statement was rejected by OPRED, which is part of BEIS.

A question for Mr Kwarteng then?

In the current climate no we damn well shouldn’t be opening up to new fossil fuels. This isn’t a game or a dress rehearsal and we need to start acting like responsible adults.

So is it ok to leave our own gas in the ground but pay extortionate amounts for it to be imported from elsewhere?
Surely nobody’s going to be interested in doing anything to fight man-made climate change if we sit shivering in the dark while wrecking the economy?
Im afraid we still need some fossil fuels to help us through while alternative renewable solutions are developed and capacity is increased.

Apart from that gas is also used to make fertiliser so add that to the list of things we don’t yet have viable alternatives for just yet.

Nah. Killing the planet, and everyone on it, is way more of a problem if anything, this mess and the attached political bullshit should serve as yet another reason to get the hell away from fossil fuels.

Completely agree with you. You're right OP.

Unless people are willing to accept living a pre industrial life, eg. bed at sundown, up at sunrise (no artificial lighting), no TV or computer or phone/tablet, no cars, no central heating, etc, then we need reliable - and affordable for the majority, energy supplies. And it is far better to be as self sufficient with that supply as possible.

We currently do still use a lot of fossil fuels. It's just not our own. We pay a lot of money to import from other countries like Russia. We can all see how well that goes when geopolitics gets in the way.

We need the gas and will burn the gas. Without home-produced gas, we shall have to import it from Nice Mr Putin and those lovely Gulf Emirs, meaning it will cost more and need to be transported thus creating more pollution.

Completely agree with you. Apart from the bit about fertiliser. We do have a cracking one. Called muck!!

There are other better ways of being environmentallly friendly.

Rationed flights - say one leisure flight a year per person/family (with exceptions for essential and emergency travel).

Smaller families achieved through education and access to contraception.

Better public transport.

Reuse as much as if not more than recycle.

Electronics and other consumer goods to be made more durable, etc.

And to be blunt, the only way the planet really has a hope is if the human race died out (naturally, not by murder by Covid, etc). Otherwise all that we can do is take mitigations to try to reduce the damage, because changing fuel really won't make enough difference. It will cause a lot of misery and poverty for insufficient benefit.

@Jaysmith71

We need the gas and will burn the gas. Without home-produced gas, we shall have to import it from Nice Mr Putin and those lovely Gulf Emirs, meaning it will cost more and need to be transported thus creating more pollution.

This.

It wouldn't be producing gas until long after this crisis is over so it really has no bearing on the current situation this winter.

It also won't make any difference to global gas supply, it is a pretty tiny field. The cost of gas is set by the marginal cargo and that is always going to be imported gas. At best, this field would generate a bit of additional tax income for the UK but it won't change the price you need to pay for gas at all.

The North Sea is not going to cover the UK's gas demand until we radically reduce the amount of gas we consume by using more wind and solar to generate power (and possibly nuclear) and we greatly reduce the amount of gas used for heating by radically improving insulation and switching many homes from gas heating to air or ground source heat pumps.

We need to open the Cumbria mine.

@Tealightsandd the proposed Cumbrian mine was to produce metallurgical coal (coking coal), eg coal used in steel making.

It is a totally different sort of coal from the type used in power generation.

So again, has no actual bearing on household energy supply.

It's still needed. It impacts on households if we don't have it.

@Tealightsandd

How so? Unless your household runs a steel plant, mining coking coal in Cumbria(or not mining it) has no bearing on your energy needs.

Mojomoon well said.

People get very confused about what really impacts our access to energy and the prices that are charged.

Totally agree with Mojomoon. Issuing an exporation or development licence now means gas years in the future. By then we ought to have better/more renewable generation alongside battery storage. Gas boilers will be phased out by 2030 or thereabouts, cooking gas probably too. Coal and gas fired power stations are inefficent to run and unreliable compared to solar. Wind and tidal technology and reliability is also improving, massive advances in the past 10 years and more to come.

Yes it’s bonkers. Some people seem to be completely unaware that we’re importing gas. But I’m sure nice Mr Putin does it in a very environmentally friendly way so that’s all good then.

Our gas storage capacity is also pathetic compared to most countries.

We need steel for everyday things that affect a household's everyday life.

Steel is used in/for rail, construction, and much more. Major infrastructure.

Better to produce our own (and invest in industry and employment opportunities) than import it.

Separately, struggling families are facing unaffordable energy bills because of so called green levies. People can't afford it. There are other better ways of being environmentally friendly.

@Theluggage15

Yes it’s bonkers. Some people seem to be completely unaware that we’re importing gas. But I’m sure nice Mr Putin does it in a very environmentally friendly way so that’s all good then.

Our gas storage capacity is also pathetic compared to most countries.

This.

Yes, I saw an article about that.
Also surprising to me we’re the figures quoted for where we get our energy from.
It said only 4% of energy source came from renewables. Some from wind and solar but rest from burning wood pellets at Drax power station. This is classed as renewable fuel but pumps out massive quantities of CO2. Barmy!
The wind farms are proving to be quite unreliable, often not enough wind and also they have to be turned off if 5he wind is too strong.

I do think we will be relying on gas for quite a while longer.
Let’s hope the EU allow Putin to use his new gas pipe. He has throttled the supply recently, causing rise in price, let’s hope he doesn’t up the ante over the winter.
I wonder who thought it was a good idea to give Russia a virtual monopoly on not just our energy supplies but Europe too.

@Tealightsandd

Separately, struggling families are facing unaffordable energy bills because of so called green levies. People can't afford it. There are other better ways of being environmentally friendly.

I'd certainly agree with reducing the levies and taxes on electricity (a relatively clean source of energy now and one being increasingly decarbonised over the next decade) and which make up 50pc of the end user bill and applying the taxes instead to the use of more environmentally damaging fuels like gas, petrol, oil and diesel instead. And partly for it to be covered by more progressive sources of revenue like income taxes.

All the steel plants (in Europe or China or anywhere) are making plans to replace coking coal with hydrogen or electric arc furnaces anyway so that mine would be a white elephant and stranded asset very rapidly anyway