The House of Commons' Scottish Affairs Committee has warned that the UK might fail to meet its net zero targets without the widespread implementation of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) projects.
The committee chair, Pete Wishart, insisted it was “deeply disappointing” that the Acorn CCUS project in St Fergus, Aberdeenshire, had been “put on the back burner”.
Wishart highlighted that much of the necessary infrastructure for the project – which missed out on funding in the first phase of the UK Government’s CCUS cluster sequencing process – was already in place.
“Net zero is little more than a pipe dream without carbon capture,” Wishart said, as he demanded that “clarity must be given at next week’s Budget”.
Wishart’s comments were made as the committee published a report highlighting Scotland's potential to become a hub for carbon capture and for hydrogen projects, due to the existing infrastructure in St Fergus and existing...