The government is rightly pressing the urgency of the country’s energy security challenge. It is imperative we also use this as an opportunity to make large and purposeful strides towards our net zero obligations. In his recent letter to the oil and gas industry - 'Accelerating investment to protect Britain’s energy security' - Kwasi Kwarteng calls for the industry to “double down on investments in the clean energy transition”. Key to this is the acceleration of our home grown decarbonisation industry.
The UK’s bus and lorry fleets, plus many homes, could be running on low carbon hydrogen within two decades thanks to green technologies now being pioneered in three UK regions renowned until now for their carbon-intensive industries.
Storegga, a major partner in an Aberdeenshire decarbonisation project, has entered into an agreement to explore carbon capture and storage (CCS) across the North Sea.
By Stephen Wheeler, Managing Director of SSE Thermal
For those working across the energy industry, COP26 has been a hot topic for the last several years. Now, the conference is finally underway and, like everyone reading this, I am hopeful that it will see significant breakthroughs in the fight to tackle climate change globally.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has come under fire for “failing to provide much needed clarity” on future carbon capture projects after a snub for the Acorn project last week.
Boris Johnson has insisted the north-east’s Scottish Cluster carbon capture bid “still has strong potential” despite the UK Government choosing to reject the project.
The UK Government has announced its choice of the East Coast Cluster and HyNet North West to develop as the UK’s first Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) clusters by the mid-2020s. The Scottish Cluster has been named as a reserve project.
The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has granted Harbour Energy (LON:HBR) a carbon capture and storage (CCS) licence for its V Net Zero project in the Humber.
Scottish business leaders have joined forces with billionaire Sir Ian Wood to demand the North-east is made the centre of plans to decarbonise the UK energy system.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has hinted that the Acorn carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) project in Aberdeenshire could be set to benefit from government investment.
Petrochemical giant Ineos has said it is “reasonably confident” that the Acorn project in Aberdeenshire will be selected as part of the UK government’s first two CCUS clusters.
