Almost 200 carbon capture projects are planned across Europe while Scotland’s proposed Acorn development remains delayed, according to analysis highlighted by the SNP.
Figures from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre show there are almost 200 planned Carbon Capture and Storage projects across Europe, alongside 12 sites already operating.
According to the analysis, there are currently no operational CCS projects in Scotland or elsewhere in the UK.
The figures have renewed attention on the Acorn project, which is intended to develop carbon capture and storage infrastructure around the St Fergus gas terminal in the North East of Scotland.
Scotland has significant potential for storing captured carbon beneath the North Sea, alongside decades of offshore expertise developed through the oil and gas industry, but Acorn has faced years of delays while awaiting progress from the UK Government.
The contrast with developments elsewhere in Europe has prompted SNP MSP Karen Adam to argue that Scotland would already be progressing carbon capture technology if it were part of the European Union.
Karen Adam said:
“Scotland is perfectly placed to become a European leader in Carbon Capture, but just like on oil and gas, we are being badly let down by the UK government.
“While European countries are forging a path ahead creating skilled jobs in the industries of the future, Scotland is still waiting for the UK government to get this key project off the ground.
“The contrast could not be clearer, across Europe, carbon capture is becoming a reality, but here it remains stuck in a permanent pattern of delay and betrayal.
“The Acorn project is at the heart of our oil and gas industry so makes perfect sense, it is hard not to believe if we were part of the EU, with the investment that brings, that our location and proximity to European offshore energy supply would be recognised and CCUS delivered.
“This is yet more proof that the only way to bring Scotland in line with our European neighbours is to put Scotland’s energy in Scotland’s hands with the full powers of independence.”
The Acorn project has become a focus of the wider debate over Scotland’s energy transition because of its potential to use existing North Sea infrastructure, engineering expertise and geological storage capacity as the country moves towards lower carbon energy.
The latest figures place that debate alongside the progress being made elsewhere in Europe, where operational carbon capture sites are already in place and many more projects are planned.
For Scotland, however, Acorn remains the project at the centre of its carbon capture ambitions, with the question of when it will finally move forward continuing to hang over the country’s wider energy transition.
