Friday 30th July 2010
Plans to store CO2
Wednesday 17th March 2010 15:52
By Glyn Curtis
CO2 emissions: linked to climate change
Image: Reuters
Pledges made by the government regarding its carbon capture and storage plans could create over 100,000 new jobs and inject £6.5 billion a year into the UK’s economy by 2030.
The strategy, outlined by the Department of Energy and Climate Change today, claims to improve industrial growth, enhance the UK’s energy security and expects to address the issue of climate change.
Carbon capture is the storage of CO2, which is released during the burning of fossil fuels. By capturing the CO2 it prevents it from entering the atmosphere - CO2 release has been directly linked to the changing global climate.
Some of the best storage capabilities for captured CO2 can be under the sea or using old oil and gas fields, particularly under the North Sea.
Polluting
Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change secretary, said: “Carbon capture and storage presents a massive industrial growth opportunity for the UK.
"We have a strong, established and skilled workforce in precisely the sectors needed to get CCS deployed at scale. And we have some of the best potential sites in all of Europe for CO2 storage under the North Sea."
The CCS strategy spells out the UK’s commitment to coal as a form of energy. The future and reliability of CCS technology is uncertain, but the CCS initiative will be used to counter arguments by campaign groups opposed to coal.
Mr Miliband said: “Coal is the most abundant worldwide energy resource but it is also the most polluting, so there is no solution to climate change without CCS.”
Trials
Yorkshire and the Humber was also announced as the first low carbon economic area for carbon capture and storage.
The region’s Ferrybridge power station was awarded £6.3 million towards its £21 million 5-megawatt carbon-capture trial by the DECC, the Technology Strategy Board and Northern Way.
The government also announced the work starting on a new Office of Carbon Capture and Storage inside the DECC which will drive the development of carbon capture technology in the UK and will also be used to promote CSS globally.