Stockton North MP and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage, Alex Cunningham, is leading cross-party calls from the APPG to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, to provide certainty and funding for CCUS projects, necessary to help the Government reach its Net Zero targets.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, which was written jointly with APPG Vice Chair David Duguid MP, Alex and the APPG highlighted not only the climate benefits of these projects, but also the economic benefits of deploying CCUS across the U.K., which could create 70,000 jobs and also protect a further 77,000 in “carbon intensive, trade exposed industries”.
The letter sets out how CCUS is vital for delivering Net Zero, with the Climate Change Committee and the Government’s Net Zero Strategy estimating that the UK will need to capture and store over 50 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2035 to reach its emission targets.
The APPG puts forward three asks to the Prime Minister:
1. Treasury commitment to a predictable funding envelope to reassure investors that a business model will exist when their infrastructure projects are complete.
2. Royal Assent for the Energy Bill, which is critical to enabling the Government to sign revenue support contracts with the clusters and capture projects.
3. Government sign-off for at least two further clusters and publication of a deployment plan as per the recommendations of the Net Zero Strategy Review.
Alex Cunningham MP said: “The potential for CCUS to grow the UK’s economy and protect our industrial heartland cannot be overstated and while we welcome the progress made in recent years, this is the time for clear, decisive action from government.”
“Decarbonisation plans will not only be good for our climate and energy security, but good for job creation and employment opportunities in our area and across the country. However we need more urgency from Ministers on this issue, and for them to commit to a package of support for the industry to create certainty and hit Government targets.”
David Duguid MP said: “As MP for Banff and Buchan, I have long championed the delivery of the Acorn CCS and Hydrogen project. I welcome the >£40 million that the Scottish Cluster has already received from the UK Government but I echo CCUS developers’ and investors’ calls for more certainty, urgency and pace going forward.”
“The Scottish Cluster is vitally important for local economic growth and meeting national energy security needs but also to ensure the whole UK delivers, not only our own decarbonisation objectives but also to show how it can be done to the rest of the world.”