CCS a necessary part of UK decarbonisation

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has a “crucial role to play in cost-effective decarbonisation” of the UK economy, according to the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), an independent body that advises the UK government on emissions targets.

Writing to the UK’s Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Amber Rudd, the CCC noted last year’s decision to cancel £1 billion of funding for the UK’s CCS commercialisation programme, saying that the decision “must not and does not exclude CCS permanently from playing a significant role in reducing UK emissions.”

“Without rapid development of an effective approach to deliver CCS, much larger and more costly actions will have to be taken in sectors such as transport, building and agriculture to prepare for the 2050 target in the Climate Change Act,” the CCC said. The 2050 target commits the UK to reducing its emissions by at least 80% in 2050 from 1990 levels.

Commenting on the CCC letter, Professor Stuart Hazeldine, Director of the Scottish CCS (SCCS) and Professor of CCS at the University of Edinburgh, was, however, critical of the UK government’s climate credientials, saying the UK needed to “do a lot more” on UK electricity and a lot more on UK low-carbon industry.”

“But this government is doing a lot less,” continued Hazeldine. “There is no sign yet that facts, unbiased scientific evidence and rationality are regarded as more important than lobbying by corporations and colleagues wishing to take the UK back to the 1960s energy mix. It’s a choice between spending £40 per household in 2016 or spending £200 per household each year from 2050.”

According to SCCS, by delaying CCS development for at least a decade, the UK will not only make meeting its carbon targets harder and more expensive, it will also lose the chance to benefit commercially from its position of leadership on CCS technology development, as well as to utilise the skills and infrastructure currently available in the North Sea oil and gas industry.

Edited by Jonathan Rowland.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/power/28012016/ccs-a-necessary-part-of-uk-decarbonisation-2016-131/