Gordon Brown: North Sea Oil and Gas Production Has Peaked  

The Aberdeen Press And Journal has a report on Gordon Brown's new announcement about renewable energy strategy, in which he says "the North Sea has now passed its peak of oil and gas supply".

PRIME Minister Gordon Brown vowed last night to “turn the North Sea into the equivalent for wind power of what the Gulf of Arabia is for the oil industry”.

He delivered the pledge as he outlined a £100billion green energy investment strategy.

The strategy is designed to put Britain at the forefront in the drive for low carbon energy and energy efficiency and take a disproportionate share of the jobs that will be created worldwide.

Mr Brown, speaking at a Low Carbon Economy Summit in London, said his plans would secure energy supplies, tackle climate change and form the “basis of future prosperity for our country”.

The strategy includes detailed measures to meet a target to source 15% of all energy consumption from renewables by 2020 including 7,000 new wind turbines, 4,000 onshore and 3,000 offshore, and feed-in tariffs to boost micro-renewables in homes and communities.

Mr Brown said Britain will this year surpass Denmark as the country with the highest operating offshore wind capacity in the world, at over 400megawatts, adding: “By 2020 we will have installed around 14gigawatts – that is around three thousand offshore wind turbines, meeting up to 50% of our renewable electricity.

“The North Sea has now passed its peak of oil and gas supply – but it will now embark on a new transformation into the global centre of the offshore wind industry.”