The Observer view on Britain’s energy crisis
Energy is vital to our daily lives. We need reliable supplies to heat our homes, to cook, to keep our food fresh, to power our transport systems, to illuminate our cities and to stay in communication with each other. Ensuring there are no significant disruptions to that provision is one of the most important tasks that a government must perform on behalf of its citizens.
In recent months, it has become clear that serious strains are now being placed on energy security in the United Kingdom, however. Spiralling gas costs are causing considerable financial difficulties for thousands of households. At the same time, electricity supplies are now threatened because most of the UK’s ageing nuclear reactors, which currently provide 20% of our electricity, face closure in the next few years with little prospect, at present, of new atomic power plants being ready to fill the gap in lost output.
On top of these issues, an urgent overhaul of our use of fossil fuels is required if the country is to have any chance of reaching its goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, a promise made by the government as part of its commitment to tackle climate change and to help halt the dangerous warming of our planet.
At present, roughly half our electricity is generated by burning natural gas in power plants. About half of that comes to our shores from North Sea rigs whose overall output is dwindling as gas fields reach the end of their lives. The rest of our gas is imported from other nations; most of it is shipped from Qatar or the US or piped from Norway. Very little is imported from Russia, it should be noted.
In addition, gas plays a dominant role in heating our homes, a reliance that cannot last for much longer if we are to meet
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