The Carbon Capture and Storage Association (CCSA), the trade body for the Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS) industry in the UK, has published a new report called ‘CCUS Delivery Plan 2035’, which highlights the ways in which the CCUS rollout can be accelerated.
The Delivery Plan sets out the industry’s recommended pathway to deliver the Government’s Net Zero Strategy ambition of storing 50 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year by 2035, alongside ten critical actions that must be prioritised by Government, industry, and wider stakeholders in the next 12 months to enable scaling up of the UK industry in line with this ambition.
Ruth Herbert, Chief Executive at the CCSA, said: “In this report, the UK’s CCUS industry has responded to the government’s Net Zero strategy. We have collected data from a pipeline of carbon capture projects across the UK that together could prevent 70 Million tonnes of emissions every year if Government commits to further CO2 storage and transport infrastructure development pre-2030.
“Our recommended build-out rate would provide a route to decarbonisation for all of our industrial regions and mean that we could rely on our own industries such as clean steel, clean cement, and clean hydrogen for the net-zero transition. To continue investing in this pipeline, the sector is asking Government to commit to regular contract allocation rounds, with an overarching target and budget, similar to that provided for offshore wind in 2013. This kind of commitment would send a clear signal to the broader supply chain and the finance community, driving inward investment. Building this new world-leading net-zero industry here in the UK will safeguard existing jobs and create new growth opportunities for our industrial regions, increasing our self-reliance.”
Jonathan Briggs, Chair of the CCSA Board said: “The CCSA’s Delivery Plan sets out a clear pathway to the deployment of a UK-based Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage industry at scale and is essential to reducing greenhouse gas emissions across the economy. CCUS is no longer considered an option but a necessity if we are to achieve our Net Zero ambition by 2050, with the potential to remove up to 70 mtpa of CO2 in the near term from industry, electricity generation, in producing low-carbon hydrogen, and by enabling greenhouse gas removals to offset hard to reach sectors.”
The report concludes that, by constraining CCUS deployment now, the UK will incur higher costs overall. If instead, we pursue the ‘Enabling the industry pipeline’ pathway, the costs will be lower and the UK will develop shipping solutions before 2030, offering a route to decarbonisation for all of the UK’s major industrial regions. This pathway would also create optionality for the UK to pursue the ‘Global leadership’ scenario, with volumes of CO2 coming from additional capture projects on domestic dispersed sites, and infrastructure costs potentially offset by subsequent CO2 imports.
Peter Whitton, Managing Director, Progressive Energy and Vice-Chair of the CCSA Board, said: “The Government is putting in place a solid policy framework to support delivery of decarbonisation of industrial clusters such as HyNet in the North West and the East Coast Cluster. However, further impetus is urgently required to secure the full benefits, in addition to enabling more clusters across the UK to develop similar CCUS and hydrogen infrastructure. The evidence from the lead clusters proves that existing industry will invest, if policy allows. The result will be a significant economic stimulus and we therefore strongly support the CCSA’s Delivery Plan.”
