Page 13 - Euroil Week 11 2020

EurOil POLICY EurOil
UK backs CCS projects in new budget
UK
Oil and gas majors have lobied for a site to be established in the Humber region.
THE UK confirmed in its new budget on March 11 that it would invest GBP800mn ($1bn) in a carbon, capture and storage (CCS) infrastruc- ture fund.
The fund will be used to establish two cluster sites for industrial-scale CCS by the mid-2020s and 2030 respectively. Neighbouring Norway is also advancing plans for CCS, having recently identified reservoirs in the North Sea that can store carbon dioxide emitted by onshore factories.
“Carbon capture and storage is precisely the kind of exciting technology where Britain can lead the world over the next decade,” UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak said, presenting the new budget to Parliament. “Once up and running, these clusters will store millions of tonnes of car- bon dioxide that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere.”
The head of the Carbon Capture Storage Association (CCSA), Luke Warren, welcomed the government’s announcement, describing it asamajorstepforward.
“We look forward to working with the gov- ernment...on the detail of how these funds can be used to ensure that CCS is deployed in multiple industrial regions in the 2020s, helping to support their transition to a net-zero econ- omy and creating the low-carbon sectors of the future,” he said in a statement.
A number of regions are vying to host the
CCS clusters. However, oil and gas majors lob- bied the government last year to establish one in the Humber region, home to terminals that receive oil and gas from North Sea fields. BP and several other majors have offered to lead a pro- ject to develop the world’s first gas-fired power plant with full-chain CCS in Teesside. The gov- ernment intends to support this project.
The UK aims to become a net-zero carbon country by 2050, and some estimates suggest it could cost as much as GBP30bn to reach this goal. The Treasury aims to publish a review this year weighing up the economic costs and bene- fits of decarbonisation.
“There are a number of possible routes – from using low-carbon energy sources like hydrogen or electricity, to capturing industrial emissions andstoringthemsafelyundertheground,”itwas stated in the budget. “This challenge provides opportunities not only to reduce emissions, but also to enable our manufacturing heartlands to become leaders in the green markets of the future.”
The budget also envisages the complete phase-out of fossil fuels in heating by 2050, replacing them with lower-carbon alternatives such as biomethane, sometimes known as green gas, through a levy on natural gas use. The gov- ernment will also support the promotion of heat pumps and biomass boilers through a new sup- port scheme. ™
Week 11 19•March•2020 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P13