The SNP has actually charged the UK Government of being “clueless” for favouring 2 carbon capture tasks in England over one in Scotland.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has actually revealed prepare for 2 “carbon capture clusters” in Merseyside and Teesside, which will certainly be established over the following 25 years at an expense of virtually ₤ 22 billion.
Carbon capture, exercise and storage space (CCUS) is an innovation which records the discharges from melting gas for power or from commercial procedures such as concrete manufacturing, and makes use of or transfers them for storage space completely underground– as an example, in obsolete oil areas under the sea.
Game- altering carbon capture and storage space sector obtains the thumbs-up with financing validated for websites in Teesside and Merseyside.
This innovative technology will certainly produce hundreds of work, enhance our economic situation and assist us on our objective to come to be a tidy power superpower
— Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (@energygovuk) October 4, 2024
But a suggested center in St Fergus, near Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, has actually once more been forgotten.
The Acorn task was offered book condition after being overlooked for financing in 2021 by the previous UK federal government.
Attacking the most up to date choice– revealed by Sir Keir, Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband on Friday– SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn claimed: “This really isn’t that hard – if you want economic growth, if you want to create jobs, if you want to develop a domestic supply chain, and if you want to hit net zero, then you invest in the Acorn project.
“For years we’ve been waiting for the Tories to back this project and despite offering ‘change’, the Labour Government have followed the same path by prioritising projects in the North of England, offering the Scottish cluster no certainty at all.
“We’ve seen with Grangemouth what happens when you don’t invest in the energy transition and, at this point, Labour look desperate to repeat those mistakes with their absurd tax changes and failure to invest in CCUS here in the north east.
“We know that Ed Miliband and the Labour Party have lofty ambitions for net zero but their clumsy and clueless approach to the north east indicates that they have no idea how to actually deliver on their aims.”
Meanwhile, the Scottish Greens explained CCUS as “a costly and unproven technology”, including it is no replacement for raised financial investment in renewables.
Co- leader Lorna Slater claimed: “The billions of pounds that Keir Starmer is pouring into CCUS would be much better spent on cutting people’s electricity bills, investing in green skills and proven industries and boosting energy efficiency and public transport.”
A UK federal government agent claimed: “Scotland is at the forefront of the drive towards net zero and clean energy, with Great British Energy’s headquarters to be located in Aberdeen.
“Our historic funding is just the first step in developing a self-sustaining market for carbon capture, usage and storage.
“Acorn has already received over £40 million for development and it is our firm ambition to proceed with the projects in the Track-2 clusters.”
