Comments on energy impact of Ukraine crisis

Jim Watson, Professor of Energy Policy and Director of the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources, said: "Reducing demand for gas should be at the centre of the UK’s response to the invasion of Ukraine and high prices. Increasing oil and gas production in the UK will have very little impact on prices, and is unlikely to make a significant dent in UK fossil fuel imports.

“We urgently need to a new programme to upgrade and insulate our homes after a decade of inaction and poorly designed policies. This will have multiple, long-term benefits - including lower bills. The government should also keep its foot on the renewables accelerator - and continue to expand investment in low cost sources of electricity such as solar and wind."

Lisa Fischer, Programme Leader at E3G, said: “Europe is undergoing a tectonic shift in terms its approach to energy security, which elevates renewables and efficiency at home and globally to a matter of energy security.

“For example, by announcing a plan to reduce gas use and an end to new gas boilers, Germany is now focusing on protecting households from volatile fossil fuel prices. With the right policies, the UK could cut its gas imports and create better, warmer homes along the way.”

On the possibility of fracking bolstering UK gas supplies, Michael Bradshaw, Professor of Global Energy, Warwick University, said: “The true impediment to fracking is not climate targets. Even setting those aside, it is not a practical or commercially viable option for reasons of geology, geography and basic economics.

“The geological complexity of the area appears to be greater than originally thought; the best estimate of the resource amounts merely to half of the UK’s annual gas consumption; and it would take years of drilling before production of this negligible amount of gas could even begin. Shale gas was pursued in good faith. It didn’t work. It’s time to move on.”

ENDS

For more information:

George Smeeton, Head of Communications, ECIU, Tel: 07894 571 153, email: george.smeeton@eciu.net