Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
5/15/2015
Following the Conservative Party’s victory in last week’s election in the United Kingdom, proponents of carbon capture and storage are still unsure what the future will hold for the technology. The Conservatives have not made clear their stance on the use of CCS, saying in their manifesto only that the government has invested significantly in the technology in the past. “We have been the greenest government ever, setting up the world’s first Green Investment Bank, signing a deal to build the first new nuclear plant in a generation, trebling renewable energy generation to 19 per cent, bringing energy efficiency measures to over one million homes, and committing £1 billion ($1.58 billion)for carbon capture and storage,” the Conservative document says. The Conservatives took 331 of the 650 seats of the House of Commons, forming the first Conservative majority since 1992. Prior to last week’s election the Conservatives governed in coalition with the Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats lost 49 of their 57 seats.
The lack of clarity on CCS has caused some worry among advocates. “I am very concerned that CCS received no future commitment in the manifesto,” Vivian Scott, Senior Researcher in CCS Policy with research partnership Scottish CCS, told GHG Monitor this week was his personal opinion on the issue. The UK’s other major parties, the Labor Party and the Liberal Democrats had explicitly stated in their manifestos an intention to support CCS into the future. In Liberal Democrat’s manifesto the party vowed to “regulate to end the use of unabated coal in electricity generation by 2025 because of its high carbon emissions and impact on local air quality, and require any new gas stations built after 2030 to be fitted with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology,” and to “implement a second phase of CCS projects by 2020.”
The Conservative manifesto does acknowledge the need to cut emissions, but gives little detail as to how the party intends to do so. “At home, we will continue to support the UK Climate Change Act. We will cut emissions as cost-effectively as possible, and will not support additional distorting and expensive power sector targets,” the document says. A representative from the Conservative Party was not immediatly available for comment.
With Front End Engineering and Design Studies currently underway for the two demonstration projects selected under the UK CCS Commercialization Program, White Rose and Peterhead, it would be best to get clarification on the Conservative Party’s stance on CCS sooner rather than later, Scott said. “Where we go from here will be determined by many factors including how the government spending cuts are allocated across departments, the success or otherwise of new nuclear build in the UK, the EU referendum, and how negotiations between the Scottish and UK government on devolution proceed. It’s in general too early to say precisely what impact these factors might have,” Scott said.
Changes Come to Department of Energy and Climate Change
Conservative Amber Rudd has been named Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change under the new government, replacing Liberal Democrat Ed Davey who had held the position since 2012. Davey lost his seat in last week’s election. Prior to her appointment, Rudd had served as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Energy and Climate Change since July 2014. In her new capacity, Rudd will be tasked with overseeing the country’s strategy on energy, consumer and climate change policy, international climate change negotiations and key decisions on major programs and new policy in DECC.
Joining Rudd at DECC is Conservative Andrea Leadsom who has been appointed Minister of State at the department. In her role at DECC, Leadsom will oversee the nation’s electricity and gas markets, new energy infrastructure, energy security, any new CCS, nuclear or renewables project as well as international energy issues.
