Fossil fuels, not green energy, are killing British steel – but renewables could save it

15 April 2025, 14:50

As the government races to keep the furnaces of Scunthorpe firing, fingers are pointing: who’s to blame for the predicament of Britain’s last virgin steel plant?

According to some, the culprit is net zero.

Their argument is simple – green policies led to high energy prices; this tanked the competitiveness of British Steel. It’s also wrong.

Renewables aren’t responsible for pushing up energy bills – fossil fuels are.

It’s true that the UK has the highest energy costs in Europe. But that’s a consequence of our dependency on fossil fuels, which leave us at the mercy of chaotic gas markets and surging prices.

In the UK, the price of electricity is set by gas 98% of the time, compared to the EU where the average is 58%.

When Putin invaded Ukraine, gas prices soared, and British homes and businesses saw their energy bills explode overnight.

Meanwhile, fossil companies notched up record-breaking profits with the world’s five biggest oil firms raking in $380 billion since the start of Russia’s invasion.

At the same time, UK wind and solar electricity is already cheaper than gas, and it’s only getting cheaper as technology improves.

Renewables are already bringing bills down – and if we want to revive a cornerstone of British industry, we need more, not less, investment in the green transition.

Commentators across the political spectrum agree that keeping some steel production in the UK is critical to national security. But scrapping net zero would itself critically undermine that security.

Gas markets will always be dependent on the whims of volatile autocrats in Russia, the Gulf and now the United States. Drilling more in the North Sea won’t change this.

Instead, we need to build an energy system based on cheap, reliable and homegrown renewables like wind and solar. This would drive down prices and stabilize UK energy markets against international price shocks.

Upscaling investment in low-carbon steel production could also be a major boon for the UK’s economy and for an industry which has been in decline for decades.

Instead of ditching renewables – the cheapest form of energy currently available in this country – the government needs to double down on its commitment to the UK becoming a clean energy superpower.

Britain’s steelmaking still matters. A green energy revolution could actually save it.

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Mai Rosner, Senior Campaigner on Global Witness' Fossil Fuels team.

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