Environmental campaign group Greenpeace has condemned an Equinor-funded computer game for school children that misleads young players by claiming renewable energy is “less reliable”.

EnergyTown, aimed at children aged nine to 14, encourages players to build a city that will survive until 2050 by balancing energy, economy, environment and population wellbeing demands.

The game shows fossil fuels as part of a clean future energy mix, which is also misleading, while players who start the game with a heavy reliance on renewable energy often fail to reach the mid-century milestone.

Shifting

It comes as part of a school education programme launched in October 2023 by Equinor called Wonderverse, with the firm saying it has reached more than 81,400 UK pupils by the following July. The deadline for schools to enter the 2025 nationwide EnergyTown competition is on Friday.

The Norwegian oil major, which is seeking to develop the controversial Rosebank oil field in the UK North Sea, has previously denied that the game is part of a lobbying campaign but rather the firm’s ambitions to make young people curious about science and technology.

Greenpeace has fiercely criticised the game, claiming the fossil fuel company’s support for the project is a “cynical PR ploy”.

Mel Evans, head of Greenpeace UK’s climate team, said: “We know many young children know a lot about the climate crisis and what’s driving it.

“If Equinor wants to win young hearts and minds, it should get serious about ditching fossil fuels and shifting to clean energy.”

Generate

Greenpeace highlighted a Wonderverse webpage that tells players how to improve their scores if their city fails before the mid-century mark.

While it says that players should think about phasing out non-renewable energy resources as the game progresses to improve its green score, they are also advised to invest in “more reliable” fossil fuels, nuclear and hydrogen to power their cities.

It notes: “If you’re relying on electricity from renewable energy resources like wind and solar power, you may have less electricity due to these energy resources being less reliable.

“Therefore, your other facilities (such as the businesses and recreational tiles) may struggle to run.”

The page later adds: “You should invest in a more reliable way to generate electricity, such as nuclear, oil, natural gas or hydrogen.

Wildfires

“It is important to consider that this may negatively impact your green score,” it adds. “You should think about how you can phase out non-renewable energy resources as you progress later in the game.”

Last July, the nationwide EnergyTown competition saw 160 children take part and an 11-year-old boy in Walmley Junior School, Birmingham, win the primary school level contest.

Sue Falch-Lovesey, Equinor’s UK Head of Social Value, said in a statement at the time that the competition “showed a good level of understanding of the variety of energy sources our cities of the future will need”.

Greenpeace highlighted how Birmingham was hit by flash floods a week after the energy firm published the press release on its website.

Ms Evans said: “Thanks to companies like Equinor, these children are living in homes with higher energy bills, living through summers of wildfires and droughts, and winters of increasingly worse flooding.

Marketing

“The UK government should stop Rosebank, and should instead invest in the wind industry in the regions where workers and communities need to transition.”

After the regulator granted approval for Equinor to develop Rosebank in 2023, the Scottish Court of Session ruled the decision as unlawful in January this year.

Equinor is expected to reapply for its consent to drill at Rosebank once the government’s revised guidance on emissions produced by burning oil and gas is released.

EnergyTown was developed for the Equinor programme by the marketing agency We Are Futures, which has worked for other high-emitting firms like BP.

In a statement, Equinor said: “The overall intention and aim for Wonderverse and EnergyTown is to provide schools and teachers with a suite of high-quality resources to help students learn more about where energy comes from, whilst building science subject affinity and the employability skills needed to successfully enter employment.”

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Rebecca Speare-Cole is the PA sustainability reporter.