A new research has suggested that UK’s eminence as a prominent hub for offshore oil & gas is expected to be overshadowed over the next decade by the rapidly growing North Sea green energy industry. According to the findings, majority of the jobs in the UK’s offshore energy industry will be in the low carbon energy sector by 2030.
The number of green jobs off the country’s coastlines is expected to increase from 20% of the UK’s offshore energy sector to 65% by the end of the decade.
Reportedly, around 90,000 job roles in the country’s offshore energy sector will be supported by the offshore wind industry by 2030 as a part of a new deal with the government aimed at quadrupling the wind power capacity.
The report suggests that One-fifth or 40,000 jobs in offshore energy sector in 2030 will be related to other clean energy verticals like generating hydrogen from renewable sources of energy, capturing and storing carbon emissions from heavy industry and factories.
The number of roles supported by the North Sea oil and gas industry are expected to reduce to 40% of all offshore energy jobs, as the oil industry is declining.
The findings are apparently a turning point for the North Sea industry which has flourished for years and has supported many jobs from the time it was at its peak in the 1970s.
Speaking on this, a director at Robert Gordon University and lead author of the study, Prof Paul de Leeuw, stated that the shift towards green energy jobs illustrates a material prize for the country as the employees currently working in the oil and gas industry can utilize their skills into cleaner sectors.
Meanwhile, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the energy minister stated that the new deal between the government and the North Sea industry will ensure that the country has future ready energy skills base, while the Green Jobs taskforce will advise on creating skilled workforce required for a low-carbon economy.
Source credits: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/may/25/north-sea-green-energy-could-overtake-oil-and-gas-by-2030-says-study
