The North Sea has fuelled Britain for 50 years. What next?
Its long-term future is as a high-tech carbon dump
As you walk north along Scotstown beach, you might not notice the gas flare, flickering behind 20-foot sand dunes. You will definitely not see the pipelines buried beneath your feet. The energy passing through them every 30 minutes or so is equivalent to that released by the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima. It flows in the form of natural gas, enough each day to fill 25,000 Olympic swimming pools, through a tangle of piping, tanks and valves that comprises the St Fergus gas terminal. Perched behind the dunes on Scotland’s easternmost shore, St Fergus processes some 20% of Britain’s gas every year. Its razor-wire fences are patrolled by police from the Ministry of Defence.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Under the deep green sea”
Britain July 2nd 2022
- The North Sea has fuelled Britain for 50 years. What next?
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- Nicola Sturgeon sets a date for another referendum on Scottish independence
- British child care is expensive
- The Metropolitan Police is put into special measures
- Inner London’s population is much lower than expected
- Boots is an iconic British brand that no one really wants
- The parallels between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn
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