UK Engineers Want More CCS Funding
Carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) is "a critical part of the future energy and industrial systems and the UK government is heading in the right direction with providing additional funding, according to the head of engineering at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Jenifer Baxter. "However, the amounts are somewhat underwhelming and the translation into action in this sector is slow," she said November 28, as the government announced £20mn additional funding for CCUS.
The UK is well-placed to lead the world in the development of carbon capture and storage technologies, which are considered critical for decarbonising our whole energy system. Deployment of demonstration plants and low carbon industrial clusters should form a central part of our industrial strategy. The renewed focus on CCUS, is welcome, but planning should be converted into action soon, she said.
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"The UN’s Independent Panel on Climate Change report said that urgent and unprecedented changes are needed over the next decade to reach agreed international targets and the International Energy Agency's World Energy Outlook showed that fossil fuels are still accounting for 81% of global energy supply. This means that we need to focus funding on technology developments that are either low-carbon or extract emissions," she said.
The government's plan commits the UK to investing £20mn in supporting technology to build CCUS plant and also to invest £315mn to decarbonise industry. It will also start work with upstream regulator the Oil & Gas Authority, industry and the Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland to identify existing oil and gas infrastructure which could be transformed for CCUS projects. Injecting acid gas into reservoirs that have not held acid gas before means that not all formations are suitable, according to engineers.
Nevertheless, as decommissioning moves up the agenda, depleted oil and gas fields could be repurposed as permanent storage sites for CO2; with the Goldeneye field off Scotland already identified under a previous, but shelved, scheme.
The lobby group representing contractors and operators offshore, Oil & Gas UK, is still keen to show willing: it said November 28: "Our supply chain is uniquely positioned to deliver cost effective, competently engineered solutions for CCUS.... Coupled with our ambition to meet more of the UK’s energy demands from indigenous resources over the longer term, outlined in Vision 2035, we recognise the important role we have to play in moves towards a lower carbon economy."