Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is essential for the future of UK low-carbon electricity. So says the Energy and Climate Change Committee report on CCS, published today [Wednesday 21 May], and so says the UK Government.
The UK is uniquely positioned for developing CCS. It has inventive manufacturers to develop CO2capture equipment, industries to engineer equipment and pipelines, and a world-leading offshore hydrocarbon industry to undertake safe and secure CO2 storage. The Committee states that the UK should concentrate on developing its massive, and potentially profitable, offshore storage in depleted oilfields and saltwater aquifers – hundreds of years’ worth. And it points out that the UK Government should better inform its public about the benefits.
The UK has an outstanding civil service, which has delivered the correct legislation, regulation and electricity market reform rapidly and to the highest quality. Two full-chain CCS commercialisation projects (Peterhead, Aberdeenshire; and White Rose, Yorkshire) are also being examined, but they will not begin operating until 2018 at the earliest.
But why is the UK so slow at developing this technology, which the Committee says will reduce wholesale electricity costs in 2030 by 20% – and will halve the extra cost of low-carbon power by 2050, according to the Energy Technologies Institute? The delivery of CCS takes time to build the necessary equipment. If we are to meet these milestones, the UK must have another five projects under construction by 2020.
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