Investments in low-carbon technology in Northern England is substantial, but several opportunities for further investment, including in carbon capture and storage, are not being pursued, according to a report released Monday by the Aldersgate Group. “CCS will be key to support industrial activity in a way that is consistent with the UK’s emissions targets, not only in the North but also the rest of the country,” the report says.
Carbon capture and storage has fallen to the wayside in the U.K. since the cancellation of the nation’s £1 billion CCS commercialization competition last year. While the two projects remaining in the competition were suspended following the cancellation, large amounts of information on design and outreach related to the projects were collected from both. “The government should take advantage of the learnings and assets that have already been acquired through the previous commercialisation programme to ensure that the commercialisation of CCS technology can progress in a timely and lower-cost manner,” the group suggested.
Beyond CCS, the report makes several recommendations about what the government must provide to boost low-carbon investment in the North. Investor confidence will be improved if the government provides:
- “A clear and stable national low carbon policy landscape to deliver the UK’s climate targets on time and budget”;
- “Improvements to the condition of natural resources, ensuring that local and national government better account for the importance of the natural environment”;
- “Regional champions of the low carbon economy, with devolved authorities routinely considering low carbon economy opportunities in local decision making and ensuring, where appropriate, opportunities for local community participation in such decision making”;
- “Strengthened regional collaboration, in areas such as transport and digital infrastructure”; and
- “More focus on the development of co-ordinated low carbon skills strategies, through greater collaboration between local government, the private sector, higher education and local educational bodies.”
