London, Europe Brief News – The Business Secretary has announced that the UK required an expansion of wind farms across the country for national security reasons. The Government is considering making several changes in laws to improve Britain’s energy independence.
Britain Prime Minister Boris Johnson is all set to reveal a new “energy strategy” within a fortnight to ensure that the UK meets its domestic needs from a mix of renewable and nuclear.
The need for more on and offshore wind farms has been typically a subject of discussion in the Conservative party during recent years but now the UK government is diving in as it is a matter of national security now rather than just a way of fighting climate change.
Expansion of wind farms in UK:
The new energy strategy may include renewables such as wind farms and solar panels to set Britain free from excessive dependence on imported oil and gas.
Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary tweeted “ This is no longer about tackling climate change or reaching net-zero targets. Ensuring the UK’s clean energy independence is a matter of national security”
He further added, “Putin can set the price of gas, but he cannot directly control the price of renewable and nuclear energy we generate in the UK”.
The official figure shows that meeting net-zero targets would lead to a drop in gas use of 65% by 2035 in the UK and almost 100% by 2050.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that all oil imports from Russia would be phased out by the end of this year.
The UK relies on Russia for its 4% of gas and 8% of oil imports to meet the domestic energy needs. The EU relies upon about 40% of gas and 27% of oil imports from Russia.
Just like the UK, some other countries are trying to find measures to generate their clean energy as it is becoming a major global security concern due to the Ukraine Crisis.
Germany’s government announced an additional 30 billion Euro for its clean energy transition in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
As per Statistics, Renewables generate 43% of Britain’s electricity while gas, coal and oil contribute about 40% during 2020. The rest of the capacity was fulfilled by Nuclear.
Sam Hall, Director of the Conservative Environment Network said “ Streaming planning and regulations would unleash more wind and solar projects to provide cheap, clean, homegrown power. Now is the time to accelerate the drive towards net zero away from volatile fossil fuels”.
