Carbon Capture delivering low-carbon jobs in the net zero transition
By Ruth Herbert, Chief Executive, Carbon Capture and Storage Association.
Carbon capture and storage technology is poised to play a major role in driving the decarbonisation of British industry and in meeting net zero targets.
The technology offers a cost-efficient pathway to decarbonise various industrial processes including cement, lime, energy from waste, chemicals, hydrogen production and power generation, as well as enabling carbon removals for hard to abate sectors.
By capturing CO₂ at the emission source or directly from the air to store it underground or utilise it in a way that permanently keeps it out of the atmosphere, carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies can enable vital British industries to decarbonise.
Industry plays a critical part in a strong and successful economy. For businesses to continue to be competitive they need to produce low-carbon products in the net zero economy, and decarbonisation through CCUS allows them to do so. This is particularly important in the context of the cost that businesses have to pay for emitting carbon, which will rise towards the end of the decade. Businesses face the possibility of closure without CCUS as the emissions charges will be unaffordable to them and as other markets for low-carbon products become more competitive.
The CCUS industry is on the cusp of deploying projects at scale across the country, transforming industries and communities as it does so. The technology has benefitted from political support across Westminster and the devolved administrations and has attracted significant interest from global private investors due to its broad range of applications.
Over the coming months, it is critical that progress on the Cluster Sequencing Programme, the government’s project delivery mechanism, is sustained. Without a rapid roll-out of the first CCUS projects (including both emitters and transport and storage providers) by 2030, the UK will not be able to achieve its net zero target by 2050.
The many thousands of people who work in energy intensive industries also need to be at the heart of the net zero transition. Many skilled workers can be retained in CCUS, and the industry is focused on maximising the local benefits right across the supply chain.
As an industry, we understand the important role that we can play in retaining and providing opportunities for employment and skills. Investment in CCUS is expected to generate 70,000 new jobs and protect 77,000 existing jobs, particularly in industries like cement where fuel switching only takes away one third of emissions because the majority of carbon dioxide emitted is released from heating the limestone.
Once CO2 has been captured on industrial sites, it needs to be transported and stored in geological formations under the seabed, which has strong synergies with the skills used in the offshore energy sector. There are almost 100,000 jobs in the oil and gas industry in Scotland, many of which could transition to opportunities in delivering the Scottish Cluster, which will use the Acorn store offshore at Peterhead. Meanwhile HyNet, located in the UK’s North West manufacturing epicentre, has the potential to use CCUS to protect more than 340,000 manufacturing jobs that would otherwise be at risk from site closures or businesses moving overseas if CO2 infrastructure is not provided.
The UK has an opportunity to create world leading CCUS clusters. Following the Energy Act 2024, many of the regulations needed for CCUS in the UK are now in place. What is needed next is an injection of pace into the UK CCUS cluster programme within the first few weeks of a new government if we are to deploy these exciting projects before 2030 to meet the UKs carbon budgets
By investing further in CCUS deployment now, the UK can lead the green industrial revolution and be at the forefront of the deployment of this essential technology, rather than import low-carbon products made elsewhere. There is a global race to capitalize on this opportunity, so it is paramount we attract and secure investment now to establish low-carbon industries of the future here in the UK.
As we look forward to the next five years, it is critical to build on the important steps that have been taken by industry and government. First, Final Investment Decisions should be taken on the first two clusters no later than this summer. Second, the government must publish the next steps for the second two clusters. To ensure continued investment in projects around the UK, a clear deployment plan, backed up by an annual revenue support envelope is needed. This will enable the industry to be self-supporting by the mid-2030s.
The time to unleash a net zero future, with CCUS at its heart, is now. If we do not maintain current progress, we will lose the competitive advantage, miss net zero targets and fail to deliver much needed low-carbon jobs across industrial heartlands.
