The Government’s action plan on introducing carbon capture and storage to tackle emissions is welcome – and should be aligned with recommendations for a large-scale trial of hydrogen as an alternative to natural gas, the National Infrastructure Commission says today.
With 32 per cent of the UK’s emissions coming from heat, tackling this must be a key priority – with hydrogen and carbon capture and storage a possible solution.
Speaking in Edinburgh today, Energy Minister Claire Perry announced how the action plan commits the Government to:
- Setting out next year how to develop the UK’s first Carbon Capture and Storage facility;
- Investing £20million to support the construction of Carbon Capture Usage and Storage at industrial strategies, as part of a wider £45million fund
- Investing £315million in cutting emissions from industrial sites, including through Carbon Capture Usage and Storage; and
- Beginning work with the Oil and Gas Authority, industry and the Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland to identify existing oil and gas infrastructure which could be transformed for Carbon Capture and Storage projects
The National Infrastructure Assessment – the first of its kind for the UK – recommends a trial to supply hydrogen to at least 10,000 homes by 2023 – including hydrogen production with carbon capture and storage.
Responding to the new action plan from Government, a spokesman for the National Infrastructure Commission said:
“We’re pleased to see a commitment from Ministers to invest in carbon capture and storage, and to examine how this new technology could be applied to industrial sites and existing oil and gas infrastructure.
“As well as these, we’d like to see the plan aligned with our recommendation to conduct a large-scale trial to explore manufacturing hydrogen with carbon capture and storage in the early 2020s, to test the viability of using this as an alternative to natural gas for the UK’s heating supply.
“This could make a real impact in meeting our climate change targets both in the short term and long into the future.”
