Scotland’s leading grassroots environmental campaign group criticised the Scottish Government after the Minister for Climate Action gave a key address at an environmental conference in Edinburgh on 13 March.
Friends of the Earth Scotland led a demonstration outside the John McIntyre Conference Centre in Pollock Halls, starting from 7:50 pm GMT.
The group handed out flyers to students, condemning this as a “Greenwashing” conference because it is “full to the brim” of “big polluters” sponsoring it, including National Gas, Shell, and the Norwegian Energy Partners group which represents Rosebank oil field developer Equinor.
However, the most controversial sponsor of the conference was the Peterhead Gas Carbon Capture project.
Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) facilities store carbon dioxide underground that has been released from industry to prevent it from being released into the atmosphere. However, this green technology has been proposed twice in Peterhead and failed on both accounts.
Friends of the Earth Scotland protested that this decarbonise Scotland event strongly promotes “unreliable carbon capture technology” that is being utilised to extend the life of fossil fuels.
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee raised concerns that the government’s £22 billion subsidiary for the project has neglected the devastating financial impact on households and businesses. The chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, criticised the third attempt to try and implement this industry, raising concerns that “it is an unproven technology.”
Friends of the Earth Scotland oil and gas campaigner Freya Aitchison says, “Carbon capture is a con trick being pushed by fossil fuel giants who are using it to undermine a fair and fast transition and further endanger people by slowing climate action.” She raised the concern that this unproven green technology is not only “exploiting our needs” but will be funded by the public purse “to keep their climate-wrecking business going.”
Having spoken to students in Pollock Halls, they found the demonstration to be an effective means of raising awareness as the John McIntyre Conference Centre houses the student dining room.
While many students had not heard of the government’s decision to financially support Carbon Capture, they believed it to be a “grave” decision “that could stunt environmental progression.”
There is an overwhelming concern that this will not only contribute to climate harm but also continue to maintain the existing energy system that is “benefitting off ordinary people’s hardship.”
The Scottish Government says: “Scotland is among the best-placed nations in Europe to deploy [carbon capture utilisation and storage] as we can take advantage of excellent access opportunities to vast carbon dioxide storage sites in the North Sea.
“There is also a unique opportunity to repurpose the existing network of oil and gas pipelines which link Scotland’s industrial clusters in North-East and Central Scotland for the transportation of carbon dioxide to storage sites.”
Image by Siobhan Chalmers courtesy of Friends of the Earth