Shutting down Britain's gas grid 'could cost £65bn'
Tory MPs renew calls for Government to rethink push to reach net zero by 2050 amid claim ‘shutting down Britain’s gas grid could cost £65bn’
Tory MPs have renewed calls for the Government to rethink its push to reach net zero by 2050 amid claims shutting down Britain’s gas grid could cost £65billion.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has reiterated his commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions within the next 27 years.
But some Conservative backbenchers have become increasingly restless over the policy amid the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on families.
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former business secretary, said the Government had to look ‘very seriously’ at whether the 2050 target was ‘realistic’ amid claims of a multi-billion pound cost for closing fossil fuel infrastructure.
According the Telegraph, a draft report by the National Infrastructure Commission found the cost of decommissioning Britain’s gas network could cost the equivalent of £2,300 per UK household.
But the Government dismissed fears over the cost of shutting down obsolete infrastructure by insisting the gas network would ‘always’ be part of the UK’s energy system.
A draft report by the National Infrastructure Commission is said to have found the cost of decommissioning Britain’s gas network could cost the equivalent of £2,300 per UK household
The Telegraph claimed the NIC draft report, of which it obtained a leaked copy, was the first time a public body had examined the future of the 176,000-mile network of buried gas pipes
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former business secretary, said the Government had to look ‘very seriously’ at whether the 2050 target was ‘realistic’
The newspaper claimed that the NIC draft report, of which it obtained a leaked copy, was the first time a public body had examined the future of the 176,000-mile network of buried gas pipes.
It said the NIC believes the grid could theoretically be converted to carry hydrogen, which has been proposed as a cleaner fuel, but that would also come at cost of ‘tens of billions of pounds’.
An industry source told the Telegraph that simply turning off gas supplies through the existing pupe network, without maintaining them, would lead to decay and risk roads falling in.
It is understood the estimates cited by the newspaper were from analytical work commissioned by the NIC from a third party as part of the next National Infrastructure Assessment, which is still being finalised.
Commenting on the claims, Sir Jacob said the Government’s net zero plans were ‘stuck in cloud cuckoo land’.
‘The Government cannot decommission the gas grid, because it can’t afford to,’ he added.
‘They have got to look very seriously at whether the legal obligation to reach net zero is realistic.’
But Kwasi Kwarteng, the former Chancellor, said the cost of decommissioning the gas network was ‘hypothetical’.
He said: ‘Given the infrastructure we’ve got, it doesn’t make sense to decommission the whole grid at vast expense. I cannot see a government doing that.
‘It’s unrealistic to expect that all household heating in this country will be electrified.’
A spokesman for NIC said: ‘We don’t comment on leaked reports.
‘We will publish information on different options for the future of the gas network as part of the next National Infrastructure Assessment in October.’
A Government spokesman said: ‘This claim is simply untrue. Our gas network will always be part of our energy system and therefore any such estimations are wrong.
‘We have and will always put affordability at the heart of our approach to improving it.
‘We will continue to work with the industry to explore if using hydrogen offers value for money for consumers and meets the required safety standards.’
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