Utility Week

4 | 3RD - 9TH MAY 2019 | UTILITY WEEK Seven days... Fracking tsar quits and blames eco-activists The government's fracking tsar has quit the post aer just six months, claiming policy relating to the controversial process means there is "no purpose" to her job. Natascha Engel told business secretary Greg Clark that develop- ing the industry would be "an impossible task" despite its "enor- mous potential". In her resignation letter, she said environmental activ- ists had been "highly successful" in encouraging the government to curb fracking. The Guardian, 28 April Offshore wind is the great emissions hope Among the bleak consequences of global warming depicted in Sir David Attenborough's recent documentary Climate Change — The Facts, there were also beacons of hope. Off the coast of Britain, there are currently some 2,000 such beacons: offshore wind turbines. As the Committee on Climate Change, an official advisory body to the British government, prepares to publish advice on whether the country should adopt a target of "net zero" emissions, the key role of offshore wind in helping to decar- bonise the economy is likely once again to come to the fore. Financial Times, 28 April Ban on petrol and diesel cars 'too tame' The government's plan to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2040 is too tame, advisers will say. Drivers will benefit if electric cars come to dominate the new car mar- ket a full decade earlier, they will claim. The Committee on Climate Change believes the cost of electric cars will be similar to that of petrol or diesel vehicles by 2024/25. But the speed of installing charging points will have to radically improve. BBC News, 29 April National media MPs call for carbon capture to be given the green light A cross-party group of MPs has urged the government to give its full backing to carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS). A report published by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) select commit- tee calls on ministers to give the "green light" to CCUS, which it claims has suffered from 15 years of "turbulent policy support" in Britain. It also warns that failing to deploy CCUS could double the costs of meeting the UK's targets under the Climate Change Act 2008 and that Britain could not "credibly" adopt a "net zero emissions" target in line with the Paris Agreement. Instead, the report argues ministers should urgently consult on how the government could fund CCUS industry clusters and it recommends the National Infrastructure Commission conduct a cost-benefit analysis of how it could help decarbonise industrial emissions. The select committee's calls follow a recent report in The Times newspaper that oil giant Shell has called for CCUS pro- jects to be given public subsidies in a similar way to renewables. In February, Drax announced the first carbon dioxide had been captured at its North York- shire power station, as part of a bioenergy carbon capture and storage pilot. And in March, an industry group was formed to advise government on the development of CCUS. The body will provide evidence-based recommenda- tions on the cost structures, risk-sharing arrangements and market mechanisms necessary to meet the goal of deploying the first CCUS project in the UK by the mid-2020s. "The current energy minister has been a champion for CCUS, and there have been some encouraging recent develop- ments, but the CCUS industry has been the victim of years of turbulent policy support and suffered a series of false dawns," said Labour MP and select com- mittee member Anna Turley. JH "Over the next ten years, our sector will require over 221,000 skilled and professional workers" Kate Davies, chief operating officer at Energy & Utility Skills, as the membership organisation announced its partnership with Youth Employment UK to encourage more young people to work in the sector. STORY BY NUMBERS Renters get switching wrong Research by Migrate has shed light on the misconceptions private renters hold about energy switching. 32% of renters polled have never switched. £453m Total saving that could be made if each renter saved the £315 Migrate claims its aver- age customer receives. 67% Proportion of non-switchers who do not realise it is an option. 53% said they were too busy to get involved in switching. 44% said they didn't switch because they did not know how to.

• Cover