Speed is key to the UK's race for energy independence

PRESIDENT Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act has triggered a wave of new green investment in the US.

- Sam Laidlaw

The EU is responding, and now UK ministers must decide how we can keep up.

We may be unable to provide the scale of subsidies and tax cuts on offer in the US, but we do have other strengths.

With some simple streamlining of regulation and policy, we can accelerate delivery of the secure, clean and affordable energy supplies needed to spur new business investment.

Best of all, it’s entirely within our means.

The problem is not that the UK is short of energy. In fact, the opposite is true — at least in terms of our energy potential. But we have lacked the speed required to unlock it.

The UK is one of the best locations in the world for offshore wind. Combined with our mature oil and gas sector, the North Sea already provides around 40% of the UK’s total energy requirements.

The UK’s targets of achieving both energy independence and net zero are a welcome statement of intent, but we can move faster to tap into the full potential of these resources.

Plans to simplify planning processes and speed up grid connections will help. But true energy security lies in an abundant and diverse supply of resources. It cannot be delivered by picking winners.