More CCS Projects Needed to Check Global Warming

carbon capture and storage project

The Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute issued a report on Wednesday urging governments to pass policies reflecting a much stronger commitment to the future of CCS. The group believes that unless a hundred carbon capture and storage facilities are built soon, global warming could exceed the ‘safe’ limit of two degrees Celsius agreed on by most scientists.

Last year only a single plant of substantial size was built, whilst plans for eight more were cancelled. Chief of the CSS Institute, Brad Page, argues that only an increase in the rate that new ventures are embarked upon will see CSS fulfilling its potential to counteract global warming. He said:

The number of operational projects would need to increase to about 130 by 2020, but this seems unlikely, with institute projections indicating that only 51 of the remaining 59 projects identified in our annual survey may be operational by then.

This announcement coincides with the news that the UK has been given until the end of this month to confirm involvement in NER300, a new EU funding pot for CSS worth billions. The EU commission, who have issued the deadline, have already ranked a proposed project in Yorkshire as one of the favourites to benefit from the scheme.

However, despite this, there are fears that that project is losing momentum. Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies said:

Almost four years have passed since a limited funding support mechanism was approved. Yet today, not a single project has been given the all-clear. If decisions are not reached by the end of this month, Europe will send out a clear signal to the world that it has given up on CCS.

Others are focused on expanding the UK’s CCS industry without outside help. Aside from NER300, the UK already has a billion pound fund set up for investment in a commercial scale CCS project. Talking of British CCS’s potential for growth, Chris Littlecott, E3G’s senior policy adviser at the environmental organisation, said:

CCS can play a significant role in helping to meet UK carbon budgets while stimulating investment in infrastructure and retaining jobs in high-value-added industries. The key sticking point however remains the Treasury. George Osborne has the opportunity to secure CCS as a growth sector the UK – indeed his love of gas must be matched by support for CCS.

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