Mr Sunak additionally confirmed backing for 2 additional carbon seize and storage (CCS) tasks, together with the Acorn undertaking in Aberdeenshire.
This, and the Viking undertaking within the Humber, will turn into the third and fourth such schemes to get Government backing, with Mr Sunak saying these would assist see the UK “speeding our path to net zero”.
With the Government offering as much as £20 billion of funding for early deployment of CCS, the Prime Minister advised how this was “new technology that Britain can lead the world in”, and he was “incredibly excited” about it.
His feedback got here as he insisted granting new oil and fuel licences for the UK was “entirely consistent” with the UK dedication to achieve internet zero emissions by 2050.
Mr Sunak mentioned even then the UK would nonetheless want oil and fuel for 25% of its vitality wants, with the PM saying he was searching for to “power Britain from Britain” moderately than the UK “relying on foreign dictators” for its vitality provides.
Speaking concerning the want for oil and fuel, the Prime Minister mentioned: “If we’re going to need it, far better to have it here at home rather than shipping it here from half way around the world with two, three, four times, the amount of carbon emissions versus the oil and gas we have here at home.
“So, it is entirely consistent with our plans to get to net zero.”
With regulators on the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) at the moment operating the thirty third spherical of offshore oil and fuel licensing, greater than 100 licences in whole are anticipated to be awarded from this autumn onward.
The PM wouldn’t verify if that meant the UK Government would give the inexperienced mild to Rosebank oil subject, regardless of considerations raised by environmental activists, together with Greta Thunberg, concerning the impression it might have.
Mr Sunak mentioned that “Licensing decisions are obviously made in the normal way”, however Labour’s Ed Miliband claimed the Conservative’s “weak and confused” vitality coverage “will not take a penny off bills” for abnormal households.
Mr Miliband, the shadow local weather and net-zero secretary, mentioned: “Every family and business in Britain has paid the price of the Conservatives’ failed energy policy which has left Britain as the worst hit country in Western Europe during the energy crisis – and Rishi Sunak is making the same mistake all over again.
“Rishi Sunak’s weak and confused policy will not take a penny off bills, as his own party chair has admitted, will do nothing for our energy security, and drive a coach and horses through our climate commitments, while continuing to leave us at the mercy of fossil fuel dictators like Putin.”
Talking up carbon seize and storage (CCS) is an apparent try to put a inexperienced gloss on the Prime Minister’s announcement
The PM additionally got here beneath hearth from environmental teams with Oxfam local weather change coverage advisor, Lyndsay Walsh, stating: “Today’s wrongheaded decision is yet another example of the Government’s hypocritical and dangerously inconsistent climate policy.
“Extracting more fossil fuels from the North Sea will send a wrecking ball through the UK’s climate commitments at a time when we should be investing in a just transition to a low carbon economy and our own abundant renewables.”
Mike Childs, head of coverage at environmental charity Friends of the Earth, mentioned the Government wanted to “focus on energy efficiency and the UK’s vast home-grown renewable resources, rather than championing more costly and dirty fossil fuels”.
He mentioned: “Climate change is already battering the planet with unprecedented wildfires and heatwaves across the globe.
“Granting hundreds of new oil and gas licences will simply pour more fuel on the flames, while doing nothing for energy security as these fossil fuels will be sold on international markets and not reserved for UK use.”
The campaigner went on: “Talking up carbon capture and storage is an obvious attempt to put a green gloss on the Prime Minister’s announcement.
“Even if it ever worked, which is unlikely in the near term, CCS won’t capture all the climate pollution caused by burning fossil fuels or address the significant emissions that are created when gas and oil is extracted.”
However, vitality large Shell welcomed backing for the Acorn undertaking, with Simon Roddy, senior vice chairman of UK upstream enterprise, describing it as “an important step forward for one of the UK’s leading CCS clusters”.
Sir Ian Wood, the chairman of ETZ Ltd, mentioned: “The decision to support the Acorn Project is hugely welcome and marks a significant step in ensuring the north east of Scotland retains its status as a globally recognised energy hub.”
Sir Ian added: “In terms of the decision to award new oil and gas licences, this is also welcome and provides much needed clarity for the industry.
“It makes absolutely no sense to reduce our reliance on domestic oil and gas production only to increase carbon heavier imports from overseas and place in jeopardy tens of thousands of jobs with would be both economically and environmentally counterproductive.
“We must proceed to deliver a managed and just transition that protects jobs and encourages our oil and gas industry to make the investments required that will in turn help us accelerate toward new and green energies.”
