UK government fails to insulate homes and build with renewable energy Infrastructure over the past few decades means energy companies will be forced to Billions of dollars will be spent this year on Russian gas imports — which could help finance its war in Ukraine.
Imported from the UK Nearly 34 terawatt hours (TWh) Imports of Russian LNG in 2021 – although there were almost no such imports in 2017.Currently imported from Russia This is equivalent to around 7% of total imports and around 4% of UK gas demand.
This means the UK will spend £2.3bn on Russian gas this year – or £6.3m a day – if bought at today’s wholesale gas price of 200p/heat (about £68/MWh).
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Dr Simon Crane-McGrisham, head of analysis at London’s Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), said: “The UK has been spending billions of pounds on Russian gas that could now be used to finance Putin’s war in Ukraine.
“This is another reason why the UK needs to break its reliance on gas and insulate our homes, deploy electric heat pumps and switch from gas-fired power stations to renewables.”
British Gas owner Centrica is in talks with Russian gas company Gazprom to withdraw from a supply deal “as a matter of urgency”.
Rising wholesale gas prices drove up the vast majority of energy bills, with gas directly adding at least £500 to the average bill under the new price cap in April, while supplier failures added a further £68.
If UK homes were upgraded with insulation and other heating efficiency measures, such that the average EPC rating moved from D to the government’s C target, the average gas use per household would be reduced by 20% and the UK’s overall gas demand would drop by 8%, Imports can be reduced by 15%.
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Brendan Montague is the editor ecologist. This article is based on an ECIU press release.
