Solar & CO₂: The UK’s Response to the Iran War Energy Crisis

The conflict in the Middle East, which began when the US and Israel launched military action against Iran on 28 February, has sent shockwaves through global energy markets.

Oil and gas prices have surged as Tehran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping corridor through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil and gas supplies typically pass.

For Britain, the fallout has been swift and significant.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has acknowledged that there may not be a "quick and early end" to the conflict and has promised to examine "every lever that's available" to help households cope with rising energy costs.

Ministers are understood to be working on means-tested support packages ahead of the summer, when the current energy price cap expires. 

The PM has indicated that this support will manifest as a fuel allowance for next winter, with the price shocks expected to continue for several months.

That said, Starmer has been careful to rule out a repeat of the blanket bailout introduced during the Ukraine crisis, which cost the government an estimated £40bn (US$53bn).

The government is also considering giving the Competition and Markets Authority additional powers to clamp down on what Starmer called "price gouging or profiteering" by companies exploiting the war.

Inside the contingency plans

Bill support aside, one of the government’s other high-profile responses to the price spike has been the decision to invest £100m (US$133m) in reopening a carbon dioxide plant in Teesside.

The facility, operated by Ensus at the Wilton International industrial site, was mothballed in September 2025 after a trade deal with the US removed a tariff on American ethanol imports, making domestic production unviable.

Reopening the plant is expected to relieve several British industries that rely on the gas. CO₂ is used to stun livestock before slaughter, to keep packaged food fresh and to carbonate soft drinks.

It also plays a role in water treatment, healthcare and the nuclear industry.

Business Secretary Peter Kyle says that the investment will "boost the resilience of our supply chains and protect critical UK sectors like food production, water and healthcare".

Elsewhere, Grant Pearson, Chairman of Ensus UK, welcomed the decision, saying it "strengthens the broader Teesside manufacturing economy and the UK's resilience in relation to biogenic CO₂ supplies".

The plant directly employs around 100 people and supports roughly 3,000 jobs across its supply chain.

The move has been partly driven by concern that rising energy costs could force European fertiliser producers – which also generate CO₂ as a by-product – to cut output, potentially triggering a repeat of the supply crises seen in 2021 and 2022.

A solar surge

If the government's response has been largely defensive, consumers appear to be taking matters into their own hands.

Greg Jackson, founder and chief executive of Octopus Energy, told the BBC's Big Boss Interview podcast that his company had seen a 50% rise in solar panel sales so far this month compared with February.

Heat pump sales are also up 50% over the same period, while enquiries about electric vehicles had risen by more than a third.

Greg says homeowners are now saying: "we've just got to do something about it".

Many industry experts have made similar observations in recent days, including Lloyd Greenfield, Founder of Glow Green.

"Households that plan will be better prepared if supply becomes tight," Lloyd explains.

"Families across the UK are already seeking quotes, checking stock and upgrading their homes, showing that early action can make a real difference in managing energy bills and avoiding last-minute stress.”

Meanwhile, the government has moved to capitalise on this shift.

On 25 March, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband announced that all new homes in England would be required to be fitted with heat pumps and solar panels under new building regulations.

The rules, which form part of the Future Homes Standard due to take effect in 2028, will also make plug-in solar panels available for purchase in shops within the coming months.

Miliband says that the Iran war has "once again shown our drive for clean power is essential for our energy security so we can escape the grip of fossil fuel markets we don't control".

Not everyone is convinced the government is moving fast enough.

Opposition energy secretary Claire Coutinho has called for new North Sea oil and gas licences, a proposal Greg dismissed as something that would make only a "tiny difference".

What is clear is that the war has concentrated the focus of the UK’s energy sector. Plus, events in the Middle East may have done more to accelerate the industry’s ambition than years of policy debate have ever managed.