Karen Frantz
GHG Monitor
2/21/2014
The United Kingdom should adopt a target of generating 10 percent of its electricity from fossil fuel plants fitted with carbon capture and storage technology by 2025, said an industry-led stakeholder group that includes BP, Alstom, Siemens, Costain and EDF Energy last month—joining a chorus of industry calls to the UK asking that it ramp up efforts to deploy CCS. The UK Advanced Power Generation Technology (APGTF) made the recommendation in a report laying out a technology strategy for CCS, and it also called on the UK to make CCS a major contributor to meeting the country’s target of an 80 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and to position itself as a global leader in the CCS market, including playing an “influential role” in the CCS policy dialogue on the world stage. “Realizing this vision presents several challenges,” the report said. “These include: cutting costs and risks so that CCS is economically competitive with other low-carbon technologies; putting appropriate, effective market frameworks in place; and removing a range of barriers to deployment.”
The report notes that even with “sluggish” progress on large-scale CCS projects, some positive developments have been realized over the last three years, including the publication of the UK’s CCS Roadmap in 2012 that sets out how the country can support CCS development, and the announcement in 2013 that a front-end engineering design study would commence of the White Rose CCS project.
Following close on APGTF’s heels, the Association of UK Coal Importers (CoalImp), which represents major coal users, rail companies, ports and other infrastructure operators in the UK, said this month that it is calling for the country to retake the lead on CCS. The announcement was spurred by a report recently published by the Trades Union Congress and the Carbon Capture and Storage Association that said CCS deployment in the UK could reap multiple economic rewards—including the creation of a £15-35bn market by 2030. CoalImp said it supported the report, but added that more needed to be done on the part of the government to ensure coal remain part of the energy mix. “It’s never been more important to maintain and develop the existing coal infrastructure as we make the transition towards a low carbon future,” said Nigel Yaxley, Managing Director of CoalImp. “The new report backs our long-held belief that inclusion of CCS within a mix of low-carbon technologies is the lowest-cost route to decarbonization. CCS represents an opportunity for the UK’s coal industry to participate sustainably in the future energy mix, securing a valuable indigenous fossil fuel resource base and a vital importation infrastructure, providing access to a competitive and well-supplied international market.”
