Greenpeace response to govt carbon capture announcement

Responding to reports that the government will announce support for two carbon capture and storage projects tomorrow as part of a drive to invest £22bn in the sector over 25 years, Greenpeace UK’s policy director, Doug Parr, said:

“For a government that is committed to tackling the climate crisis, £22 billion is a lot of money to spend on something that is going to extend the life of planet-heating oil and gas production.

“It’s absolutely vital that the government does commit to industrial investment and job creation as we tackle the climate crisis, but it needs to be the right sorts of industries. Carbon capture may be needed for hard to abate sectors, such as cement production, however, hydrogen derived from gas is not low-carbon and there is a risk of locking ourselves into second-rate solutions, especially as the oil industry could easily hoover up most of the money to continue business as usual.

“The bulk of this cash should be invested instead in creating new jobs in the green industries of the future, like in offshore wind, or rolling out a nationwide home insulation programme that will keep our homes warmer, energy bills lower and less dependent on gas.”