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More oil, nuclear power and wind: How the UK plans to tackle the energy crisis
Unveiling its new Vitality Safety Technique on Wednesday, the federal government set out plans to generate 95% of Britain’s electrical energy from low carbon sources by 2030.
“[The plan] shall be central to weaning Britain off costly fossil fuels, that are topic to risky fuel costs set by worldwide markets we’re unable to manage,” the federal government mentioned in an announcement.
Beneath the brand new technique, the federal government will velocity up building of offshore wind farms by reforming planning legal guidelines — and it hopes they will generate sufficient electrical energy to energy each house within the nation by 2030.
The federal government needs to see as many as eight nuclear reactors constructed over the following decade. It hopes nuclear power can provide 1 / 4 of UK electrical energy by 2050.
France’s EDF, which operates six nuclear crops in the UK and is the lead investor in a brand new nuclear energy station as a result of come on-line in 2026, welcomed the announcement.
“Constructing extra new nuclear will scale back Britain’s dependence on abroad fuel and preserve power costs steady,” Simone Rossi, EDF Vitality UK’s CEO mentioned in an announcement.
Consultancy Wooden Mackenzie estimates that the United Kingdom might produce the equal of one other 5 billion barrels of oil if it takes benefit of all its sources.
But Neivan Boroujerdi, North Sea analysis director at Wooden Mackenzie, mentioned that the nation will stay “closely reliant on [gas] imports in all situations” within the years to come back.
Oil and fuel plans slammed
The federal government’s plans, and its determination earlier this week to fee a brand new report into fracking, sparked criticism from environmentalists.
“Onshore wind to spice up clear power provide and power effectivity measures to cut back power demand ought to have been on the coronary heart of this technique,” mentioned Luke Murphy, affiliate director for power and local weather on the Institute for Public Coverage Analysis, a left-leaning assume tank,
“However power effectivity hasn’t been talked about and the proposals for onshore wind seem pitiful,” he added. “The choice to ramp up exploration of oil and fuel and reassess fracking beggars perception.”
The cap is more likely to go even increased in October, piling extra ache on shoppers.