Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s conservative British government has reversed its green energy course by announcing a massive embrace of new oil and gas production, including the opening of the vast Rosebank oil field. However, the government promises that emissions from this and other industrial pollution will somehow be rendered “Net Zero” by 2050 via a fleet of to-be-built carbon capture and storage (CCS) hubs. Backed by £20 billion in subsidies, CCS will play an integral role in the ‘maxxing-out’ of domestic oil and gas resources while ensuring energy independence. London says capturing and storing future CO2 emissions in ‘depleted’ offshore oil and gas fields will enable the UK’s industry to thrive for decades to come. As NGOs and scientists cry foul, lead blogger and podcaster, Michael Buchsbaum, reviews the deteriorating narrative.
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Entrenched advantage: Fossil fuels-produced hydrogen dominates the EU’s Fit for 55 package
The hydrogen transition – a crucial political, economic and climate initiative for the European Commission – got a massive boost from their newly released Fit for 55 strategy. But despite growing concerns about how dangerous the expanded carbon footprint of H2 produced from fossil gas will be, many policymakers like EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson remain firm on backing both “blue” and “grey” H2. Among many incentives in the new policy package is the shielding of this highly polluting sector from having to pay additional carbon taxes under the European Trading System (ETS). In a recent Politico Energy Visions web event sponsored by Shell, Simson batted away all criticisms, stating that during the H2 transition phase “we will need all low-carbon hydrogen solutions.” Lead blogger L. Michael Buchsbaum reviews some of the ways not-so-low H2 benefits under the bloc’s new theoretical pollution prevention plans.