Only a few years ago the UK was in the fortunate position of having plentiful oil and gas supplies, mostly from the North Sea. This situation is changing, and the UK is moving from relative self-sufficiency in energy to the position of a net importer more rapidly than most commentators were expecting. Recent high profile interruptions to gas supplies to Europe, plus high international energy prices have brought the risks of this position into very sharp focus.
The UK's changing position is coming at a time when the world, and Europe in particular, are facing major energy issues. Rising demand is pushing up world oil prices, and new discoveries are currently not enough to replace dwindling fields. Oil is likely to remain expensive in the future, and prices may even rise further.
Europe is becoming more and more dependant on Russia to supply its gas. The Russian government has shown itself willing to cut off supplies over the past couple of years to countries with whom it has an argument. Such a failure in the UK's energy supplies would be felt almost immediately. A serious disruption in our gas supply could very quickly have serious consequences for the economy, public services and the security of the country.
There is also another consideration as we source less and less of our energy from our own seas. Each time you use gas or fill up with petrol, you will be sending money overseas to some countries that have a poor record on human rights, corruption and democracy. Do you really want to be making a financial contribution to this?
The best action that we as individuals can take is to use less energy, be it gas, oil or electricity. This is also the action that we all need to take to prevent Climate Change.
This web-site is designed to make it easy for you to take action. Once you have read this section please go back to the rest of the site and use it to start reducing the amount of energy you use.
