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BSE INDUSTRY COMMENTE


Moving UK money towards the sun T


he Guardian reports that Copenhagen is withdrawing the city's £700m investment fund out of coal, oil and gas holdings. And if the Mayor's proposal is approved, the Danish capital will become the country’s first investment fund to sell its stocks and bonds in fossil fuels. The moves hint at an urgent realisation; money in fossil fuels is now dead cash.


According to The Guardian, some 80% of the world’s known coal, 50% of its oil and 30% of its gas reserves will have to stay in the ground if global warming is to be avoided. Remember, in COP21, the world has endorsed this reality.


Invesng in solar lowers technology costs and grows the renewables market. It protects us from uctuang energy prices and makes UK industry more compeve. Contrasngly, free falling oil prices and OPEC's cartel strategy have signalled the beginning of the end for fossil extracon. David Snape, Head of Sales and Markeng at Solarsense comments.


These metrics are widely understood within the solar lobby. But there are yet deeper reasons to switch financial support from fossil to solar.


Oil prices are falling because OPEC, the cartel of oil producing countries including Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, is keeping prices low to maintain market share.


The result of this aggressive strategy? It stops being commercially viable for other countries to extract oil competitively. If the OPEC price is $30 per barrel, and the price of production in remote, dangerous and expensive competing locations is $30 per barrel, why would any firm take the risk to break new ground?


A telling example surrounds Brazil's pre-salt oil reserves. “It’s one thing when oil is $130 a barrel, but a very different situation at $60 a barrel,” a government source told The Guardian. “Brazilians were expecting to export pre-salt oil and earn a great deal of money. But it’s actually very expensive to extract and also very dangerous because of the environmental risks.”


Greenhouse gas


With all this in mind, ongoing investment in oil feels tantamount to madness. Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, writes that tackling the two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, energy and land use, will require the redirection of $1 trillion per year until 2050. It's imperative this realignment of funds gets underway now. He cites International Energy Agency (IEA) data; the uptake of economically viable energy efficiency investments could also boost cumulative economic output by $18 trillion in the next 20 years. Such arguments underline the needs. They put solid evidence behind investing into solar and turning away from oil.


Steiner argues today's leaders are offered a “Once-in-a- generation opportunity to take ambitious decisions on both the green economy and climate adaptation”. But shockingly, the UK is alone among G7 nations in dramatically increasing its fossil fuel subsidies. The Guardian's investigation into UK fossil investment says: “Production subsidies of £5.9bn have already benefited major fossil fuel companies operating in the country, most foreign-owned, while £3.7 billion is used to subsidise fossil fuel production overseas in countries including Russia, Saudi Arabia and China”.


Can the UK Government listen to reason? “Fossil fuel subsidies are public enemy number one for the growth of renewable energy,” says Fatih Birol, Head of the IEA. “I don’t understand some countries; they have renewable energy programmes and at the same time they have subsidies for fossil fuels. This is, in my view, myopic.”


Go Fossil Free says local government in the UK invests £14bn in fossil fuel companies like Shell and BP, undermining the UK's green economy while exposing 4.6 million UK pensions to the risky, OPEC dominated oil market.


Fossils irrevocably harm our climate and do nothing for the workers of tomorrow. Switching where our money goes, from oil to solar could bring jobs and strengthen our economy. Lobbying the UK Government to alter its stance and leverage your money more gainfully could help to green the UK and offer resilience for the future.


www.solarsense-uk.com 30 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER MARCH 2016 VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.bsee.co.uk


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