Interesting links, articles, news and blog posts sent out to members on 24/01/22.
News: EU aims to boost gas supplies amid deepening energy crisis and Russia-Ukraine tensions – City AM
23 January 2022, Nicholas Earl. The European Union (EU) is talking with partners about potential ways to boost gas supplies to the bloc, amid a deepening energy crisis across the continent and rising geopolitical tensions:
News: US in talks with Qatar over gas supplies to Europe in case of invasion of Ukraine – Washington City Times
22 January 2022. Talks with Qatar and EU member states aimed at securing additional liquefied natural gas cargoes by sea have gained urgency after high-level security negotiations between Washington and Moscow saw minimal progress this week:
News: Energy bills crisis: five UK business groups demand urgent action – Guardian Online
21 January 2021, Larry Elliott. Chiefs of CBI, BCC, IoD, Make UK and FSB say ‘rocketing’ charges will delay economic recovery from Covid:
Library briefing: Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill (HL Bill 89 of 2021–22) – House of Lords
20 January 2022. The Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill is a government bill which completed all its stages in the House of Commons on 10 January 2022. It had its first reading in the House of Lords on 11 January 2022. At the time of writing, a date for its second reading in the House of Lords has not been set:
Link: https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/LLN-2022-0002/LLN-2022-0002.pdf
News: Energy crisis: Chemicals industry sees ‘500% increase’ in bills – Channel 4
21 January 2022, Paul McNamara. The soaring cost of wholesale gas, which isn’t being helped by the Ukraine crisis, is piling immense pressure on the most energy-intensive industries:
Link: https://www.channel4.com/news/energy-crisis-chemicals-industry-sees-500-increase-in-bills
News: Firms call for urgent help with energy bills – BBC News Online
22 January 2022. Five business groups have written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak urging support for businesses and consumers as energy costs soar:
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60087798
News: Government glosses over MP’s recommendations for strengthening green jobs plans – Edie.net
20 January 2022. The Government has shelved several recommendations put forward by MPs to support the UK’s ambition to host two million green jobs by 2030 – an aim it is not currently on track to achieve:
News: UK decides against intervening with Emissions Trading Scheme, despite record-high carbon prices – Edie.net
19 January 2022. Despite calls for action from high-emitting industries in the UK and EU, Britain’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) Authority has decided not to intervene in the national carbon market amid high prices:
News: Britishvolt: Electric car battery plant gets millions in funding – BBC News Online
21 January 2022. A firm planning mass production of electric car batteries in the UK has secured government funding for its proposed factory in Northumberland:
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60066432
Consultation: Market Wide Half Hourly Settlement (MHHS): Consultation on the governance, funding and operation of an Event Driven Architecture – Ofgem
20 January 2022. This consultation is about the ongoing governance, funding and operation of the Event Driven Architecture for Market-Wide Half-Hourly Settlement. Stakeholder event on 3 February. To take part, please email halfhourlysettlement@ofgem.gov.uk
News: UK’s gas grid ready for 20% hydrogen blend from next year – Future Net Zero
14 January 2022, Dimitris Mavrokefalidis. The 20% blend is forecast to reduce the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions, the equivalent of taking 2.5 million cars off roads:
Link: https://www.futurenetzero.com/2022/01/14/uks-gas-grid-ready-for-20-hydrogen-blend-from-next-year/
News: ‘Nearly 18m British homes may be unable to decarbonise heating’ – Future Net Zero
19 January 2022, Dimitris Mavrokefalidis. Trade body said the government must recognise the role of hot water cylinders in decarbonisation:
Press release: Watch iconic fusion energy machine’s 100,000th ‘pulse’ – UK Atomic Energy Authority and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
20 January 2022. Historic milestone reached by JET scientists:
Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/watch-iconic-fusion-energy-machines-100000th-pulse
House of Commons Debate: Small Modular Reactors and Energy Security – Parallel Parliament
19 January 2022. Text of Westminster Hall Debate on Small Modular Reactors and Energy Security:
News: Climate change personal responsibility is a myth to excuse the world’s emitters – City AM
19 January 2022, Ted Christie-Miller (Policy Fellow at the thinktank Onward). Consumers do have power in their pockets when it comes to tackling climate change. The meteoric rise of ESG in the financial services industry, for instance, has been driven by consumer demand:
Link: https://www.cityam.com/climate-change-personal-responsibility-myth-excuse-world-emitters/
House of Commons Debate: Gas and Electricity Costs – Parallel Parliament
18 January 2022. Text of Westminster Hall Debate on Gas and Electricity Costs:
News: Long-term sustainability of the energy system at risk as government eyes short-term fixes, says Cornwall Insight – Current News
18 January 2022, Molly Lempriere. The long-term sustainability of the energy sector is at risk from the short-term measures being considered as a solution to the energy crisis:
Policy paper: UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 2022 – Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
17 January 2022. This report outlines the UK government and devolved administrations’ position on the key climate change risks and opportunities that the UK faces today:
Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-climate-change-risk-assessment-2022
Research briefing: Cost of gas and electricity – House of Commons Library
17 January 2022. A debate on the “Cost of gas and electricity” will be held in Westminster Hall on Tuesday 18 January at 2.30pm. The debate is sponsored by Jamie Stone MP (Liberal Democrat):
Link: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2022-0010/
Research: Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS): barriers, enabling frameworks and prospects for climate change – Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
January 2022. This issue of the Oxford Energy Forum examines the recent trends in CCUS and explores the regulatory and commercial barriers limiting the deployment of CCUS at a large scale. It gathers the thoughts of many leading researchers in the field of CCUS, on its business models, and the incentive schemes and regulatory frameworks surrounding it:
News: Climate crisis could wipe out 1% of GDP by 2045, UK Government admits – Edie.net
17 January 2022. The UK Government is forecasting that, without better plans to improve climate resilience, billions of pounds will be wiped off of national GDP in the coming decades, with the costs of inaction set to outweigh the cost of action by 2045:
Link: https://www.edie.net/news/9/Climate-crisis-could-wipe-out-1–of-GDP-by-2045–UK-Government-admits/
News: Energy system will fail to manage ‘growing complexities’ without digitalisation, Taskforce warns – Current News
17 January 2022, Alice Grundy. The Energy Digitalisation Taskforce’s recommendations for creating a digitalised energy system have been unveiled, spanning areas such as interoperability, security and carbon monitoring:
News: Government says its climate change curbs inadequate – BBC News Online
18 January 2022, Roger Harrabin. The government has admitted that its efforts to insulate the UK from climate change impacts have been inadequate:
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-60026378
News: Government launches £5m Hydrogen BECCS Innovation Programme – Current News
13 January 2022, Molly Lempriere. A new £5 million scheme has been launched by the government that will support innovative new hydrogen from biomass and waste technologies:
Link: https://www.current-news.co.uk/news/government-launches-5m-hydrogen-beccs-innovation-programme
News: EDF takes hit as Macron shields public from soaring energy bills – City AM
15 January 2022, Lily Russell-Jones. EDF’s shares fell by 14.6 per cent after Macron ordered the company to sell cut price energy to its rivals to stave off price hikes:
Link: https://www.cityam.com/edf-shares-plummet-as-macron-shields-public-from-soaring-energy-bills/
Research briefing: The energy price crunch – House of Commons Library
14 January 2022. The price of energy has dramatically increased in recent months; both in the UK and globally. The prices are causing widespread concern and knock-on impacts for both domestic and commercial energy consumers. This paper sets out the causes of the price rise, impacts in the UK, and possible implications for UK energy policy:
Link: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9340/
Guidance: Oil and gas: decommissioning of offshore installations and pipelines – Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning
14 January 2022. Decommissioning programmes, including dates, locations, installations decommissioned, method of decommissioning and close-out reports where available:
Link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/oil-and-gas-decommissioning-of-offshore-installations-and-pipelines
News: Energy operators working to blend 20 per cent of hydrogen fuel into regular gas grid from 2023 – City AM
15 January 2022, Michel Wilems. Energy operators of the gas grid said this morning they will have the capacity to blend 20 per cent of hydrogen fuel into the regular gas grid from next year:
Call for input: Establishing the Capacity Market Advisory Group – Ofgem
14 January 2022. Ofgem have published a call for input seeking stakeholder views on their intention to establish a Capacity Market Advisory Group (“CMAG”) and its proposed key design features:
Link: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/establishing-capacity-market-advisory-group
News: Rishi Sunak ‘missing in action’ on UK energy crisis, Labour say – Guardian Online
13 January 2022, Richard Partington and Jillian Ambrose. Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves urges action before expected surge in gas and electricity prices in April:
Column: Improving the energy performance of poorer peoples’ homes would help to cut the cost of living – Conservative Home
14 January 2022, Lord Willetts. The Conservative Party Conference seems like an age away. Boris Johnson was riding high and Keir Starmer was the leader who looked vulnerable. Many Tory MPs and activists thought the next general election was in the bag…..:
Research briefing: Cost of gas and electricity – House of Commons Library
17 January 2022. Members will debate the cost of gas and electricity in Westminster Hall on 18 January 2022 at 2.30pm:
Link: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2022-0010/
News: UK Government taken to court over Net-Zero Strategy and Heat and Buildings Strategy – Edie.net
12 January 2022. The UK Government is being taken to court by Friends of the Earth and ClientEarth over its Net-Zero Strategy, with the groups claiming that the policies detailed will not result in the emissions reductions promised under legally binding climate targets:
News: British Gas owner Centrica warns high energy bills to last two years – BBC News Online
12 January 2022, Simon Jack. Soaring energy prices which threaten the living standards of millions could last up to two years, the boss of the UK’s biggest energy supplier has said:
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59957716
Research briefing: Opposition day debates: VAT on household energy bills, and Reducing costs for business – House of Commons Library
11 January 2022. On 11 January there will be two Opposition day debates: the first on VAT on household energy bills, the second on reducing costs for business:
Link: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2022-0005/
Article: Should help with energy bills depend on weather? Sunak is told those in North deserve more – as it’s colder – Mail Online
11 January 2022, Daniel Martin. Tory MPs last night demanded more financial support with energy bills for colder parts of the country as well as cuts to VAT and green levies:
Link: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10392519/Sunak-told-North-deserve-colder.html
Article: A windfall tax shouldn’t be ruled out by the Conservatives – Politics Home
12 January 2022, Joe Tetlow. As the government scrabbles to find policy solutions to cut bills ahead of whopping price increases this April, several things have become clear:
Article: Soaring Gas Prices Could Close Chemical And Paper Factories, Sending Supply Chains Into Chaos – Politics Home
6 January 2022, Adam Payne. Ministers have received fresh warnings that soaring gas prices could force factories to close without urgent government intervention, as the energy crisis facing Boris Johnson deepens:
Link: https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/gas-prices-factories-business-support
News: Why the energy crisis is set to derail the UK economy in 2022 – City AM
7 January 2022, Jack Barnett & Nicholas Earl. A wave of concern over the swelling cost of living is sweeping across Britain. While households are bracing for higher tax bills and are already being stung by food prices leaping, it is swelling energy costs that will hit hardest in 2022:
Link: https://www.cityam.com/why-the-energy-crisis-is-set-to-derail-the-uk-economy-in-2022/
Research briefing: Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill 2021-22 – House of Commons Library
7 January 2022. The Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill aims to provide for a new model for financing new nuclear power stations in the UK. This briefing covers the Bill’s progress through Parliament, through second reading and committee stage:
Link: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9356/