Clean Heating is Vital for UK Energy Security

30 Jan 2024 03:47 PM

With the UK’s gas dependence fully unmasked by the Russian assault on Ukraine, it is essential that the financial and security costs associated with importing gas, and the security value of clean heating and energy efficiency, are reflected in government energy policy decisions.

The slow-motion train crash around UK gas security has been visible for many working in the energy sector for years. The country’s major reliance on gas (38% of total energy demand) and heavy and increasing exposure to gas imported from the international market meant that the gas crisis led to higher bill impacts in the UK compared to other European countries.

What is particularly surprising is the unwillingness of successive governments to tackle what is clearly one of the largest systemic challenges facing the country. This is especially difficult to comprehend because decarbonisation — the other key energy challenge beyond energy security — would naturally decimate gas demand. Roughly 85% of Great Britain’s homes currently use gas, and around half of all UK gas demand is used for heat. The deployment of energy efficiency measures, growth in renewable electricity and widespread use of heat pumps would cut gas demand to around a fifth (and possibly less) of current levels.

Announcements on new oil and gas licensing confuse the picture. Their impact on production will be limited, slowing rather than reversing import requirements. The UK continental shelf, as a fossil fuel resource, has been in terminal decline for some time.

This commentary looks to understand the issues at play, pressing the case for UK energy decision-making to ensure that gas security as well as decarbonisation is considered across all energy-related decisions.

How Did We Get Here?

Large reserves of ‘natural’ gas were discovered in 1965, leading to a government decision to exploit this resource and use it to replace the locally produced ‘town gas’ – made from coal – and to expand the UK’s gas network. Around 10 million homes in the UK have been connected to the gas grid (more than doubling connection numbers prior to 1965), and the amount used in homes has increased by around six times as gas use has moved beyond cooking and room-based heaters to whole-house central heating.

The gas network’s expansion and consolidation in the 1960s and 1970s was a state-led project that involved nationalisation of the sector. It was a huge government intervention. While the UK augmented its gas production with some imports, the country was largely self-sufficient from the 1960s all the way through to 2003, even becoming a net-gas exporter for a time in the late 90s and early 2000s.

But since 2000, production has been on a downward trajectory, and since 2004, the UK has been a net importer of gas. Today, around 50% of the gas used in the UK is imported.

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