I asked UK government why it’s spending £25 billion dismantling oil platforms – here’s the reply

Tom Baxter

I asked UK government why it’s spending £25 billion dismantling oil platforms – here’s the reply

Tom Baxter

Engineering

Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article

Abstract

As North Sea petroleum moves towards the end of its lifespan, the UK taxpayer is to spend some £25 billion to pay nearly half the cost of removing the offshore infrastructure.

This might sound like the right thing to do, but as I have argued before, it is probably not the best use of public money. The environmental benefits of decommissioning are questionable. If we instead spent the money on, say, building more renewable energy, it would create jobs for longer and you would generate carbon-free power for your trouble. Others might not share this view – my point is it’s a debate we’re not having.

Original language	English
Specialist publication	The Conversation
Publisher	The Conversation UK
Publication status	Published - 11 Apr 2018

Keywords

Scotland
Oil and gas
North Sea oil
North Sea
Offshore decommissioning

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

https://theconversation.com/i-asked-uk-government-why-its-spending-25-billion-dismantling-oil-platforms-heres-the-reply-94786Licence: CC BY-ND

Cite this

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N2 - As North Sea petroleum moves towards the end of its lifespan, the UK taxpayer is to spend some £25 billion to pay nearly half the cost of removing the offshore infrastructure.This might sound like the right thing to do, but as I have argued before, it is probably not the best use of public money. The environmental benefits of decommissioning are questionable. If we instead spent the money on, say, building more renewable energy, it would create jobs for longer and you would generate carbon-free power for your trouble. Others might not share this view – my point is it’s a debate we’re not having.

AB - As North Sea petroleum moves towards the end of its lifespan, the UK taxpayer is to spend some £25 billion to pay nearly half the cost of removing the offshore infrastructure.This might sound like the right thing to do, but as I have argued before, it is probably not the best use of public money. The environmental benefits of decommissioning are questionable. If we instead spent the money on, say, building more renewable energy, it would create jobs for longer and you would generate carbon-free power for your trouble. Others might not share this view – my point is it’s a debate we’re not having.

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I asked UK government why it’s spending £25 billion dismantling oil platforms – here’s the reply

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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Cite this