Up until 2003, the UK was entirely self-sufficient in energy. Oh, how times have changed! Now we are reliant on Norway, Qatar, the United States and you guessed it — Russia (to a lesser degree since the war with Ukraine) — for 50% of our energy supply. And we’re not the only country with an over-dependence on importing.
Now, I’m no expert, but it doesn’t take a genius to predict what this global over-dependence on importing would lead to. Lo and behold, the massive increase in global demand caused prices to spike, to the point where the price of energy in the EU reached record highs in 2022.
In geopolitical terms, some might argue that this is a pretty stupid position for a country to find itself in, given that we were given plenty of warning about what would happen if we allowed ourselves to become overly dependent on foreign energy sources. I’d go further than this and call it outright lunacy.
So, how exactly did we find ourselves here? Well, in the UK’s clamour to be seen as virtuous climate leaders of the world, and having exhausted our primary North Sea oil and gas fields, we focused on investing in renewables, and failed to even explore, let alone exploit any alternative sources of energy such as fracking. Who needs a plan B when the economic future of the entire country is at stake, eh?
Of course, fracking isn’t without its controversy, largely thanks to sensationalist media claims and the usual brand of doom-laden hysteria that we’ve come to expect from whining eco-bores such as Just Stop Oil. However, even the lowest estimates suggest that there’s enough shale gas beneath the UK with the potential to feed current demand for the next 46 years, according to the British Geological Survey. So surely, fracking is at least worth a conversation?
But it seems that in their wisdom, the muppets in charge have decided on a much better strategy — let’s just wing it for now, see what happens and hope that everything somehow works out for the best. Thank God we elected these people to make such decisions on behalf of us simple-minded plebs.
Not only has this lack of sense and foresight left us economically and geopolitically compromised, the process of importing actually ends up creating more pollution! So although our environmental posturing might look good on paper, liquefying, shipping and regasifying supplies is a costly process that consumes up to 10% of the gas being imported. Is it just me, or are these figures just not adding up?
The simple fact is that the government could condemn every UK citizen to poverty by committing the country to an open-ended energy bill, all in the name of environmental piousness, and it still wouldn’t make the slightest bit of difference. Because if the other big climate players like China and the USA aren’t making similar sacrifices, then what the little old UK does or doesn’t do is akin to a drop in the very polluted ocean.
Because are we really to believe that there is a global transition to solar and wind when fossil fuels still provide around 80% of the world’s energy? And the industry only looks set to grow, despite decades of opposition and political animosity. [1]
The Government has rowed back on some of its net zero policies, delaying a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035. And in September, the Prime Minister also said he would delay the ban on new oil-fired boilers from 2026 to 2035, and increase grants for heat pumps.
But is this a case of too little too late? Has too much damage already been done in trying to appease the overzealous climate nutcases who wish to silence any from of reasoned and rational debate, or will we finally have the courage to go against the grain and contradict the sacred gospel of climate change? Only time will tell.
But one thing is for certain, we need to rethink our strategy, and fast, because the future of every British citizen depends on it.