Pollination’s Post

"This Budget was meant to signal to our community that government is serious about investing in us. It was an opportunity to share some of the resources being heavily targeted toward industry and proponents, and to go some of the way to address the power imbalance that exists between industry and First Nations. And it was a moment to implement some of the solutions we have been advocating for around affordability to address energy security. Instead, with this Budget, the government has locked in the economy of the future while replicating the dynamics of the past, including adversarial relationships, delay, unnecessary cost, and impacts on Country" First Nations Clean Energy Network + Karrina Nolan are rightly infuriated at the failure by the Australian government to give Indigenous Australians what they're due in the #budget2024 The most generous cash seems to be flowing towards the mining and energy companies, many of whom are directly and brazenly responsible for injustice, destruction and wrongdoing in Australia. https://lnkd.in/dB99MUsw

A stunningly retrograde step. At a time when to meet increasing net zero and associated supply chain challenges the UK should be encouraging inward investment, this simply points the way to Washington and Brussels instead. It is also an extremely doubtful vote winner in a populace which is among the most "green minded" there is. This crude politics before planet policy will only backfire and do great damage to the UK's international reputation. Coupled with the recent disastrous renewable energy auctions, potential investors now have even more reason to go elsewhere. A dark day. #renewableenergy #offshorewindenergy #onshorewind #netzero2050 #ukgovernment #growthopportunities #energyinfrastructure #investment #greenjobs #electricvehicles #evcharginginfrastructure #gigafactory #evtransition

Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce has welcomed today’s announcement by the Prime Minister that hundreds of new oil and gas licenses will be granted in the UKCS signalling a “vote of confidence” in Scotland’s world-leading energy sector.    After sustained political and business pressure, the UK Government has also confirmed that the Acorn carbon capture and storage cluster will go ahead by 2030 — with huge potential for innovation and new jobs in the North East of Scotland, where the project is centred.    Commenting on today’s announcement, AGCC Chief Executive Russell Borthwick said:    “Overall this is an extremely positive day for our energy sector and for the future of the North East of Scotland — a region at the forefront of energy transition and home to a truly world-class industrial sector.   “Carbon capture is a critical piece of the jigsaw in reaching net zero. While it was disappointing for the North East to miss out on Track 1 status in 2021, a concerted effort by industry has kept this project very much alive and uppermost in the thoughts of government decision makers. That it can now proceed without further delay is great news, keeping Aberdeen and Grampian at the forefront of emerging technology and creating high-value jobs in the process.    “On new licenses for oil and gas, we welcome the scale of the ambition and the comfort that this provides to firms for the years ahead. We know that oil and gas will be required, albeit in declining amounts, as we transition towards a greener future. It makes far more sense for us to produce our own — at lower cost and with lower emissions — than importing this resource from overseas.    “It’s also a common sense strategy that protects Scotland’s jobs and translates into economic benefits for communities like our own.    “Today’s announcement goes some considerable distance towards ensuring that Aberdeen can transition from its status as the oil and gas capital of Europe to the Net Zero Capital of the world.    “That said, there remains one sizeable barrier to achieving this — in the form of the Energy Profits Levy.    “This windfall tax is well past its sell-by date and is hampering investment in the here and now. And while the Treasury have set a price floor, they’ve done so knowing there’s little chance of it being triggered any time soon. Companies cannot have confidence to invest in the future as long as it remains.   “If the UK Government really want to turbocharge transition, deliver greater energy security and reap the long term economic benefits which can be realised right here in the North East of Scotland it’s high time that EPL was scrapped or, at the very least, for the price floor to be set at a level that reflects a fair average price for oil and gas over recent years."

HOW WILL UK GREEN GROWTH PLAY OUT? With The Labour Party Party forming the new UK government following the #GeneralElection last week, those interested in #sustainability will be interested in how the promises of the manifesto translates into physical action. There already was a diversity of opinion about a #GreenAgenda, from sceptics and deniers, to evangelists and everywhere in between. Interestingly there’s less disagreement about the more political aspects of #EnergySecurity not least as a result of the invasion of Ukraine and the fallout of the situation in Palestine. The mitigation however has delivered different answers from pumping more oil from the #NorthSea, to accelerating #renewable #energy generation. Opponents of the “more oil” lobby point out that N Sea oil goes into a regional/global market, and not directly into the UK, most going to refineries on the European mainland and elsewhere. Those supporters of sustainability highlight that building the #infrastructure IN the UK mean less dependency OUTSIDE the UK. One area that has been addressed very quickly is the removal of the moratorium on #OnshoreWind development. This is the #sustainable #energy part of sweeping changes to infrastructure planning in general. The halt was placed some years ago as local opposition (AKA #NIMBY) to turbines won support in Westminster. With the last government rolling back commitments, there is a loud call going out to pull the timetable forward, back to the original dates and more. Other areas being focussed on are #solar, not least using acres and acres of commercial rooftops to create electricity locally (#LocalPowerPlan), more insulation help, reversal of the #ICE end date and accelerating #EV and other alternatives, and questions about #HS2 (which the Chancellor Rt Hon Rachel Reeves less than an hour ago stated would not be reinstated until the funding for it can be found). The new government’s commitment on appearing and demonstrating #FiscalResponsibility is underlined by the apparent drive to create growth in the green sector, to provide new jobs in country, and reduce cash going out of the country to pay for energy, thereby being able to fund new waves of investment. It’s going to be interesting to watch how this unfurls. https://lnkd.in/eDFtEi3A

Whilst this announcement is laudable and demonstrates a greater commitment to the UK’s transition to Net Zero than the Conservative government, is this the most impactful allocation of limited resources? As a comparator, I would be keen to see a full economic analysis of the benefits of allocating this £8.3bn to addressing the UK’s grid capacity constraint problem instead. Much needed investment in the grid will (i) unlock more renewable development (ii) potentially resulting in lower consumer bills and (iii) on the demand side, mitigate the economic drag of C&I expansion being curtailed because of a lack of grid capacity

We welcome the Chancellor’s plans to speed up grid connectivity and reform planning for renewable energy projects, which could reduce some of the burdens holding back private investment into the low-carbon economy, although it remains to be seen how effective these will be in practice. The size and scale of commitments made today still fall short of a sufficiently comprehensive response to the U.S Inflation Reduction Act, the EU’s Green Deal Industrial Plan, and similar initiatives in other jurisdictions. If the UK is to attract the capital needed to lead the global transition to a more sustainable future, creating jobs and economic prosperity, we must build investor confidence, address greenwashing risks, and tackle more of the UK’s underlying investment barriers. The Chancellor didn’t go far enough. https://lnkd.in/eQq4bQv5

The UK Spring budget included some encouraging green measures. However, MD Richard Jones reflects on the lack of investment to support the energy transition and the climate emergency. Key takeaways: 🟡Capital expenditure for energy security increases to £5.9bn in 2024/2025 from £4.3bn in 2022/2023 increasing to £8.2bn in 2025/2026. 🟡Governmental investment in the green industries growth accelerator continues, but there is little investment in new projects to enhance the renewables industry. We are missing a much-needed push on renewables, EVs and energy efficiency. The most disappointing thing is the total lack of prominence of these issues in the Chancellor’s speech. Taking into account the Electorate’s acknowledged importance of these issues it is thought that especially in an election year a Chancellor might just have mentioned our Climate Emergency at least once. #budget2024highlights #budget2024 #sustainablebusiness #greenagenda #sustainablefutures #solarenergy

So, whilst the UK's competition in the US, Canada, EU and China are taking action to invest in green technology to the tune of hundreds of billions of pounds, the UK wants to tinker with offsetting potential future "fluctuations in energy prices". The UK's energy prices are already amongst the highest in the world and aren't even on the same scale as North America or Middle East. More ambition is required for us to capitalise on our scientific and research capabilities, and our commitment to emission reduction. There is an opportunity with the right policy and support for the UK to become world leaders in clean technology. https://lnkd.in/eMbP7UEW

Big changes in the UK as the country has woken up to a landslide victory by The Labour Party in the general election. There'll be plenty of discussion about this today no doubt, but good to see Greg Jackson from Octopus Energy sharing his views on BBC News just now. He's positive that a large Labour majority will help with the delivery of new renewable energy infrastructure. He said: "One of Labour's five missions was about green growth. It's really important that voters backed this idea that we can deliver cheaper, greener energy by investing in it, so I think a stable business environment, a stable political environment, will help release capital in our sector." He added that a key priority for Labour would be to change the planning system to make it easier to build renewables and other infrastructure. "What Labour needs to do now is hit the ground running with things like planning reform so we can build this infrastructure. There's hundreds of billions of pounds ready to invest in the UK. We just need to do it," he said. Jackson added that The Conservative Party's attempts to turn net zero policies into a culture war has failed. We reflected on what a Labour win would mean for the wind industry in the UK a few weeks ago. Click here: https://lnkd.in/e39BSDGN #onshorewind #offshorewind #renewableenergy #investment A Word About Wind | Energy Storage Report | Tamarindo