Chris Ong, Seatrium's CEO, sees the Iran conflict sharpening what specialists call the energy trilemma, or the trade-off between energy security, affordable supply, and environmental sustainability. "The situation is now even worse because of the destruction of supply, which is still not fully priced in," Ong says. "People don't understand; they have been swung between different stories every day."
Roughly 20 million barrels per day of oil moved through Hormuz in 2024, equivalent to about one-fifth of global petroleum liquids consumption. When that waterway closed, oil prices spiked to $126 per barrel in what the U.S. Energy Information Administration has described as the largest supply disruption in global oil market history.
The UK has about 1.59GW of currently installed datacentre capacity at just under 190 sites. If we add existing capacity to that which is planned to complete by 2030 and which has planning consent, we get 4.9GW.
"Among the measures being modelled behind closed doors are the throttling of data speeds, restricting access during periods of high demand, and charging customers a premium at peak times, a move that would mark a significant departure from the all-you-can-eat tariffs that have dominated the British mobile market for more than a decade."
Octopus Energy reported that its heat pump orders more than doubled in March compared to February, while sales of solar power systems increased by almost 80%. This trend reflects a growing consumer shift towards renewable energy solutions.
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Reaching net zero would cost about 4bn a year, the CCC found, or close to 100bn by 2050, which was roughly equivalent to the energy-related costs of the fossil fuel shocks that followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The findings contradict widespread claims made by rightwing thinktanks and populist politicians including the Reform party that net zero would represent a crippling cost of 9tn to the UK's economy.
The government has awarded contracts to a record supply of new solar power projects, in a move that boosts the country's clean power goals but could spark anger from local opponents. The developments will be located across England, Scotland and Wales, with the West Burton solar farm planned for the Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire border becoming the largest ever to win a government contract.
Doubling down on renewables is, yes, right for climate change, it's, yes, right for jobs, it is also essential because we keep on seeing these lived examples of how instability, through regional instability, is creeping into our energy prices, for which the British Government has no agency.