Rebecca Bell, SCCS Policy Officer, and Erika Palfi, SCCS Scientific Research Officer, share the key messages they took away from last week’s DeCarbScot conference
Industrial decarbonisation is currently like an orchestra without a conductor, according to Mark Wild, CEO of SGN, the gas distribution company, who points out that the bigger and more complex the project, the greater the need for central co-ordination and leadership. With the need to deliver huge pieces of infrastructure in new asset classes, the metaphor can be stretched further: it’s like a conductor-less orchestra trying to play a brand new piece of music that no-one has heard before.
This crucial need for collaboration and coordination was one of the main messages we took away from last week’s DeCarbScot conference held in person at Murrayfield and brought to us by NECCUS, the alliance working to reduce industrial carbon emissions in Scotland and beyond. With a decision on Track 2 Cluster Sequencing Process imminent from the UK Government, it was a key event to explore the future of decarbonisation. The one day event, the first of its kind, brought together people from academia and research such as ourselves and Heriot-Watt’s IDRIC; from the public sector including the Scottish Government, Crown Estate Scotland and Scottish Enterprise; and from industry, CCS developers and supply chain for a packed programme of talks and panel discussions.
In terms of leadership, the UK Government needs to step up - this was a clear message both from Michael Matheson MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport in the Scottish Parliament, and David Duguid, Conservative MP for Banff and Buchan. Both spoke about wanting to work with the UK Government, and pressing it to make concrete decisions about funding and timing for Track-2 CCS projects. Both also referenced Chris Skidmore’s recent Net Zero Review (set up under Liz Truss) which urged the Government to set a clear roadmap for CCUS beyond 2030, and to take a pragmatic approach to cluster selection, prioritising the most advanced clusters (i.e. the Scottish Cluster). It was really heartening to hear such similar messages from representative of two different political parties - to the extent that Mr Duguid was having to re-write parts of his speech as he listened to Mr Matheson cover them in his.
The UK’s Cluster Sequencing Programme and concurrent development of business models to support CCUS was contrasted with the USA’s Inflation Reduction Act, which was described as radical and straightforward, and a game-changer for investment. The Act puts a price on carbon stored, which can be claimed by the storing company either as a tax credit or a direct payment. It also includes substantial provisions on local content - in terms of both workforce and equipment. The way UK budgets are set means that this kind of incentive wouldn’t work in the UK - tax credits and such here can be given or taken away with a parliamentary statement, whereas in the US they are agreed in law and therefore much harder to change, providing much-needed certainty to investors. And this certainty is paying off: we heard how investors are increasingly looking at CCS projects in the USA rather than the UK, which means the UK risks losing investment and trained workers, as well as its tenuous advantage of being an early-mover in CCS deployment.
At the SCCS level, it was great to meet so many people for whom our research is filling a real gap: people in shipping and ports who want to hear more about EverLoNG, our ship-based carbon capture project; people working on hydrogen who want to find out where we go next after HyStorPor, our hydrogen storage project; and the audience was given a teaser of the findings of the Scotland’s Net Zero Roadmapproject, in which SCCS and NECCUS are both partners.
And we especially liked the emphasis on a ‘Just Transition’ in this coming energy transition, in contrast to the phasing out of coal mining. As Mr Matheson said, we must come together coherently, take a multi solution approach not a single route and work out how companies can work together in this orchestra. He also flagged the goal of creating 300,000 green jobs – a very positive goal indeed.
