REPORT FINDS UKG WILL NOT MEET CLIMATE CHANGE TARGETS IF IT DOES NOT INVEST
SNP MP Drew Hendry has called on the UK Government to “quit stalling and start delivering” on a Carbon Capture and Underground Storage (CCUS) scheme or devolve the powers to Holyrood so the Scottish Government can.
A “watershed” report published today by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee concludes that the UK will not be able to meet its Paris Agreement climate change targets without deploying CCUS.
The report states that failure to deploy CCUS would mean “the UK could not credibly adopt a ‘net zero emissions’ target in line with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C aspiration” and demands that the UK government “move away from vague and ambiguous targets and give a clear policy direction to ensure the UK seizes the industrial and decarbonisation benefits of carbon capture usage and storage.”
In 2015 the Tory Government axed the £1 billion grant to establish a CCS scheme in Peterhead – which would have created 600 jobs and made Scotland a global leader in clean energy technology – despite their 2015 manifesto promise to provide this funding.
Commenting, Drew Hendry MP said:
“The Tories must quit stalling and start delivering on a Carbon Capture and Underground Storage (CCUS) scheme to meet its climate change targets and play its part in the climate crisis fight. If it will not, it must devolve the powers to Holyrood so the Scottish Government can.
“Scotland already leads the world on engineering expertise in the energy sector but we want to go further and use these skills and infrastructure to lead the world in carbon capture and undersea storage – creating thousands of jobs and developing new technology whilst working towards meeting our ambitious climate change targets.
“The SNP are striving to create a socially just Carbon Transition that delivers for all in society. A CCUS scheme would give us the opportunity to secure energy supplies and protect manufacturing jobs whilst ensuring carbon is safely stored undersea instead of contributing to climate change.
“Today’s watershed report puts beyond doubt that the UK government must invest in CCUS if the UK is to meet its international obligations on climate change – and it must start with the investment it promised to Peterhead.
“If the UK Government continues to dither, the only option will be to place the future of Scotland’s energy entirely in Scotland’s hands.”
BEIS Committee response on CCUS: https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/business-energy-industrial-strategy/news-parliament-2017/carbon-capture-report-published-17-19/
BEIS Committee Report: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmbeis/1094/109402.htm