THE CASE FOR CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE
‘ While solar panels and wind turbines may enjoy a positive public perception , emissions targets simply cannot be reached using renewables alone ’
Carbon capture facilities can be put in place at the site of any large-scale process which produces a lot of CO2 . The CCS competition which was axed earlier this year was aimed at installing carbon capture and storage facilities at two existing UK power plants .
“ Obviously there ’ s a lot of licking of wounds going on in CCS at the moment after the cancellation of the competition ,” Green says . “ I guess there are a number of people thinking ‘ where do we go now ?’ and there are a number of different routes .”
In order to get carbon capture and storage off the ground in the UK , Green believes that a private sector leader will have to be willing to come forward and invest in the installation of the technology .
“ If we start at the top , the key issue is that virtually any investment an energy company makes will be driven by policy ,” Green says . “ Whether it ’ s a wind turbine , or a new gasfired power station , or putting diesel generators in fields – all of these things are driven by policy environments .
“ I guess one of the biggest challenges for CCS has been around coming up with a policy framework and the support for that will enable the private sector to make those investments and be confident that they can see a return .”
Without public sector funding , companies will need to make a significant upfront investment in CCS facilities and , in return , will receive income streams through the lifetime of the plant . However , waiting for costs to fall before implementing the technology is not the answer . The first plant to be built in the UK will always be an expensive undertaking , and will come with its own location-specific
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