Letters: Fawley oil refinery expansion so short-sighted
SIR - It was with dismay and disbelief that I read in the A&T last week of Exxon Mobil’s plans to expand diesel production by 45% at its Fawley plant.
The new plant project is designed for the production of ultra-low sulphur diesel (ULSFO), which will become mandatory by law for all shipping in January 2020.
ULSFO is significant in terms of limiting air and water pollution, to which the shipping industry’s contribution is currently disproportionately high.
However, to increase diesel production in the face of the undeniable science about the effects of fossil fuels on climate change seems unbelievably short-sighted.
The science informing the 2018 report to the United Nations by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) makes it clear that remaining hydrocarbons should now be left in the ground, not extracted and refined into fuel of any kind.
Otherwise life on this planet will become intolerable, and mass extinctions are inevitable. Hence the much lauded news of more jobs locally will be of no value.
The governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, recently warned business leaders that certain investments, including the fossil fuel industry, will become stranded assets in the foreseeable future.
It was announced in the national press recently that European lorry manufacturers will be required to cut carbon dioxide emissions by approximately a third by 2030. Carbon dioxide is one of the major contributors to global warming.
The new laws would require carbon emissions to be reduced incrementally over the next few decades until diesel and petrol engines will be phased out completely.
In the light of the science and the responses of senior bankers as well as the European Parliament it would seem utter folly to expand production of a fuel, albeit low in sulphur.
There has to be a change of direction. There are viable alternatives to fossil fuels, but effective investment in them is lacking.
The fossil fuel industry, of which Exxon Mobil is a leading member, could and should, as a matter of the greatest urgency, be directing its resources into investing in renewable energy sources whilst hydrocarbons are phased out. In the spirit of the circular economy, this could even include allocating funds to diesel vehicle scrappage.
The future could be so very much better and brighter if climate change is addressed effectively, but action needs to be faster.
It is not hard to understand the frustration of protest groups such as Extinction Rebellion, and of individuals such as the Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, who is inspiring a whole generation of youngsters. She even spoke about the imminent threats of climate change to our own parliament recently.
The latest news about the Fawley refinery is a backward step and runs counter to the science of the time.
Fiona Rogers,
New Forest Friends of the Earth
