Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is framed by its proponents as the saving grace to our climate catastrophe. Big oil can continue to burn all the fossil fuels they like, simply suck up all the carbon dioxide and pump it into the ground instead. A win-win solution, right? Chancellor John Healey certainly seems to think so. A whopping provision of £24b has been set aside for CCS projects in his budget announced last week. This comes with a reduction in funding for grants to aid households looking to swap their gas boilers for an electric heat pump. Gambling with shaky science over proven climate solutions appears to be the order of the day.
Advocates of CCS say it remains the only long-term solution to climate change. Friends of the Earth Scotland, however, paints a very different picture, one of a history of CCS failure and corporate greenwashing. They point to a myriad of technical issues and underperformance, as well as the fact that CCS does nothing to combat the highly potent greenhouse gas methane. TV host and environmentalist Chris Packham is also providing vocal support for this stance, highlighting “ludicrously uncertain results” and referring to CCS as a “tech fairytale.”
Even if CCS can’t do anything to ease this crisis, what it most definitely can do is ensure that corporate interests maintain their iron grip on the rhetoric of combatting climate change, while continuing to expand oil and gas infrastructure.
The UK seems to be bucking the global trend when it comes to CCS investment. The UK Government’s support for CCS totals more than that of the US, the EU, Norway, and Japan combined. Meanwhile, the tech sector seems to be withdrawing from CCS investment. Microsoft, despite having largely established the market for CCS technologies, is reportedly pausing future purchases of carbon removal credits. With this suggesting that many are starting to believe this technology is not enough to reduce emissions, it is unclear why the government is so committed to devoting such a substantial sum to its development.
Scotland is currently playing host to two of the CCS efforts linked to the commitment made by the government in last week’s budget. Friends of the Earth Scotland claim the Acorn project and Peterhead in Aberdeenshire will keep Scottish households trapped into paying energy bills subject to international gas prices.
Environmental campaigners are making their views on the matter clear. A number of climate groups gathered outside Bute House, the First Minister’s official residence in Edinburgh, last week protesting the government’s decision to give the go-ahead for Peterhead. The Scottish government has additionally pledged £80m in support of the Acorn project.
The truth is oil and gas interests are using their shiny toys in the form of CCS as a terrifying distraction, while the small window for the switch to renewables begins to close. And it appears the government is buying it.
Photo by Chris LeBoutillier on Unsplash
