More drilling in the North Sea would do nothing to improve the UK\u2019s energy security, former military leaders have said, as a new analysis finds no fossil fuel importer is safe from chokepoints in the global supply chain.<\/p>\n
The government should focus on a rapid transition to a mix of wind, solar, tidal and nuclear energy to ensure the UK\u2019s future security, the former military leaders told the Guardian, as well as a programme of energy efficiency and a \u201cmajor renewal\u201d of the electricity grid.<\/p>\n
They made the comments as the Conservative party leader, Kemi Badenoch, launched a \u201cget Britain drilling in the North Sea\u201d campaign on Monday. It is the latest call from rightwing politicians and fossil fuel corporations to reverse the Labour party\u2019s ban on new licences.<\/p>\n
Retired R Adm Neil Morisetti, a professor of climate and resource security at University College London, said attempting to eke out the remaining oil and gas from the North Sea was \u201cnot the answer\u201d to the challenges facing the UK.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will not bring down the price for consumers, nor will it deliver long-term energy security. The international markets will determine the price and destination; that is not energy independence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
graphic showing volume transit of oil and petroleum products and natural gas around Middle East and Africa and through the strait of Hormuz<\/a><\/p>\n Morisetti acknowledged that the UK would need oil and gas for years to come, but said the turmoil created by the wars in Iran and Ukraine had led to increasing uncertainty over supplies and rising prices.<\/p>\n He argued that the UK needed an energy strategy that was \u201cfocused on greater energy efficiency to reduce demand\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt needs to include a clear plan to rapidly transition away from fossil fuels to solar, wind, tidal and nuclear power, and a major renewal of the grid, with associated storage, to support the distribution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n A separate report from the E3G<\/a> thinktank warns that \u201cstructural chokepoints\u201d in the global supply of oil and gas mean that increasing the supply of fossil fuels anywhere will not improve a nation\u2019s security. It says disruptions can arise from physical blockages to a small number of existing supply routes, but also from \u201cpaper chokepoints\u201d, including the withdrawal of insurance.<\/p>\n The report says reducing a country\u2019s reliance on oil and gas \u2013 through electrification, efficiency, grids, storage and domestic clean energy \u2013 provides the most durable way to reduce exposure to chokepoint risk.<\/p>\n Maria Pastukhova, a senior policy adviser at E3G, said: \u201cEnergy systems are a backbone of national security, but for many importers, that backbone depends on infrastructure and routes far beyond their control. Reliance on distant supply chains and chokepoints means disruption risk is built in. Clean energy systems are not immune to shocks, but they shift more of the system under domestic control and reduce exposure to geopolitical and market volatility. That is the strategic energy security lesson from this crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, launched her \u2018get Britain drilling\u2019 campaign in Aberdeen on Monday, visiting the Well-Safe Protector, a heavy-duty jack-up oil rig moored in the south harbour of the Port of Aberdeen. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod\/The Guardian<\/p>\n The Guardian reported on Saturday that hundreds of new North Sea licences granted by the Conservatives between 2010 and 2024 had so far produced just 36 days of gas<\/a>, according to research by the energy transition campaign group Uplift and the energy consultancy Voar.<\/p>\n Tessa Khan, the executive director of Uplift, said this underlined the irrelevance of calls to \u201cmax out\u201d the North Sea, describing them as \u201cvapid, political game-playing at the expense of ordinary people\u201d.<\/p>\n Lt Gen Richard Nugee, a retired army officer who held several key posts during his 36-year military career, told the Guardian that what had happened in Spain in recent months \u201cwas illustrative\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe majority of the time [the Spanish] electricity price is no longer set by fossil fuels but by renewables. The net effect is that they are less affected by the straits of Hormuz, and more prepared to stand up to President Trump,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Nugee said that was \u201ca real case of sovereignty not dependency\u201d, adding: \u201cGoing for gas is both lengthy and finite and dependent on factors outside the country\u2019s control. Going for renewables gives greater independence, greater sovereignty, less vulnerability to attack and more opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n The North Sea is said to be a \u2018mature basin\u2019, with its oil and gas output declining by 75% since its peak. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Amid growing calls for the government to row back on its ban on new North Sea oil and gas licences in recent weeks, experts point out<\/a> that the North Sea is a \u201cmature basin\u201d, with its output declining by 75% since its peak. Issuing new licences would not bring down UK bills and would make almost no difference to gas imports<\/a> in the short or long term.<\/p>\n Khem Rogaly, a co-director at the Transition Security Project, said relying on \u201cexpensive and volatile fossil fuels \u2013 with prices set by global markets we can\u2019t control \u2013 makes British families vulnerable to shocks from US-led oil wars\u201d.<\/p>\n He added: \u201cGreen energy delivered through public ownership can protect us from energy shocks while helping the UK develop a foreign policy independent of coercion by the US and its \u2018energy dominance\u2019 agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n