1975: The Year the Queen Officially Opened Britain’s Energy Crisis for Business?
Last week, the Department of Energy & Climate Change released the key points from their ‘Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2012,’ showing the development of energy trends that are both encouraging and disappointing.
30th July 2012 | Kate Roche: Rolton Group
An interesting correlation also emerges from the report as it states that, in 2011, ‘imports of energy exceeded UK production [for] the first time... since 1974,’ quoting a rise of 3.8% since 2010. This is perhaps no surprise if one considers that, on 3rd November 1975, oil extracted from the North Sea first began circulating, offering a cheap and domestic solution that allowed our country to maintain its comfortable grip on fossil fuels for another 30 years.
Browsing the BBC’s online ‘News on This Day’ feature makes for an enlightening read regarding the occasion, as it describes how Queen Elizabeth formally opened the venture during a £500,000 ceremony by pushing a gold-plated button, a clear indicator of the confidence in the commodity’s prospects. Indeed, the article states: ‘The inauguration by Her Majesty and the presence of so many high-ranking politicians in Dyce - a town scarcely on the map a year ago - is seen as testament to the importance being placed on North Sea oil.’ It also offers a prediction that ‘within two to three years the field is expected to yield 400,000 barrels per day - about a fifth of Britain's oil consumption.’ The echoes of this statement take on a different meaning when read today; if our nation had applied the same enthusiasm and vigour to developing the renewables sector when in its nascent stages, we would not have found ourselves where we are now.
This is because, in the decades between 1975 and 2012, a lot has changed. With rapidly depleting supplies of our own fuel, and in the absence of a thoroughly implemented renewables infrastructure, the UK imports energy out of necessity in amounts that rise year on year. As a result, we are left vulnerable not only to the increase in cost, which will grow exponentially as resources run lower, but also to the pricing of companies who look to profit from our need for energy. It seems we had it too easy for too long, and now we are paying the very significant price.
Comparisons with countries that did not ignore the burgeoning need for green industry make for an embarrassing read: Sweden, Latvia, and Finland all held an overall renewables consumption of 30% or above (with Sweden rocketing in front with 47.9%) in 2010, whilst we trailed behind with 3.2% in the same year, standing in front of only two other EU countries. This figure rose to 3.8% in 2011, clearly indicating that, as of yet, we are not doing anywhere near enough to protect future generations from the devastating effects of climate change.
The Digest does display sure signs of hope for the direction of our energy consumption, but these green shoots will need to come into full bloom swiftly if we are to meet our carbon target and stabilise the energy industry long-term.
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