IChemE slams government’s CCS u-turn

The credibility of the Government’s energy policy has been called into question by the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) Energy Centre, following last year’s decision to end a £1 billion competition to help get Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) off the ground.

The centre says the decision is at odds with the Government’s climate policy, describing CCS as “vital” to fulfilling the commitments made at the COP21 conference in Paris last year. 

Prime Minister David Cameron reiterated the reasoning behind the decision earlier this week whilst appearing before the House of Commons Liaison Committee: “It seemed to me that the economics of carbon capture and storage really aren’t working at the moment … even after you’ve spent that £1 billion, that doesn’t give you carbon capture and storage that is competitive in the market.”

He added: “… it would cost you, at the current estimate, something like £170 per megawatt-hour … That compares with unabated gas costing £65, onshore wind perhaps costing £70 and nuclear costing, say, £90.”

However, the IChemE Energy Centre says it was a missed opportunity and claims CCS was never given a fair chance as the decision was made before evidence had been submitted by the competition entrants.

Vice-chair of the IChemE Energy Centre Board, Professor Geoff Maitland, said: “The cancellation of CCS funding has resulted in the abandonment of two projects that were vital to the UK meeting its CO2 mitigation targets. The decision has also undermined investor confidence in the reliability of public funding of energy projects in the UK.

“If the Governments’ signature on the Paris Agreement is to have any credibility, then the UK must adopt CCS for gas as well as coal. There needs to be more clarity and consistency between Downing Street and the Department of Energy and Climate Change. At present, we have conflicting messages on energy policy.”