Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
7/10/2015
The United Kingdom must amp up its support of carbon capture and storage to reach its long-term climate goals, according to a new report released this week by the Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project. The report finds that to decarbonize, the country must reduce emissions from power generation 85-90 percent from current levels by 2030. “The costs of mitigation in the power sector would be significantly higher without specific key low-carbon technologies. Delay in deployment and subsequent lower levels of nuclear and carbon capture and storage (CCS) leads to significantly higher costs of abatement,” according to the document.
The ability to utilize fossil fuels in the UK in a low-carbon future relies entirely on the realization of CCS within the country, according to the study. This necessity is not limited to the use of coal, the study notes, but also the use of lower-carbon natural gas. “Our analysis shows that the continued use of gas on the supply side is subject to its use in CCS, for electricity and hydrogen production. It is imperative that energy policy first focuses on developing CCS technology, not in developing new fossil resources, which cannot be used otherwise,” according to the report.
The report also stresses the need for global cooperation related to the low-carbon technologies needed to support a low-carbon future. “There will need to be strong international cooperation on key technologies, such as CCS, where learning has to be fairly rapid if indeed this technology can be scaled globally to the required levels,” according to the report.
Support for an immediate increase in support for CCS was also voiced in a report submitted to Parliament last week by the United Kingdom’s Committee on Climate Change. The committee provided several recommendations to Parliament toward meeting the country’s climate goals. Among these recommendations was a call for CCS. “A range of infrastructure decisions to be made this Parliament could have significant impacts. Foremost amongst these is the need for carbon capture and storage (CCS),” the report says. The report goes on to recommend that the Department of Energy and Climate Change “set out [an] approach to commercialise CCS through the planned clusters: including a strategic approach to transport and storage infrastructure, completing the two proposed projects and contracting for at least two further ‘capture’ projects this Parliament.”
Parliament Warned of Carbon ‘Policy Gap’
The Committee on Climate Change report also warns of a ‘policy gap’ between current measures being taken to address climate change and the ability to reach the goals the country has set. “The policy landscape is complex and in places inconsistent. Our assessment of existing policies is that some of these are at risk of failing to deliver, either due to design and delivery problems, or because they are currently unfunded. Even if these policies delivered in full, there would be a policy gap to achievement of the fourth carbon budget (2023-27) and the cost-effective path to the 2050 target,” according to the report.