Committees

Committee launches carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) inquiry

29 May 2018

The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee launches an inquiry on carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) and efforts to kickstart this technology in the UK.

The inquiry

The inquiry examines the Government's commitment to deploying CCUS technology and whether it has a “Plan B” to meet the UK's climate change targets should desired cost reductions not materialise.

What is CCUS?

Carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) is a set of technologies which can together capture carbon dioxide from waste gases, and either ‘lock up' this carbon dioxide in long-term storage  or use it in industrial processes.

Chair's comments

Rachel Reeves MP, Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, said:

"Carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) is expected to play an essential part in meeting the UK's carbon budgets. Yet the Government's budget to kick-start CCUS has been cut from £1bn to £100m. In this inquiry, we want to test the Government's ambitions in this area and to examine what policy levers need to be pulled to make large-scale CCUS a reality in the future. Clearer policy signals are needed if we are to create a market and commercialise this technology into the 2030s. If the Government judge the costs are such that CCUS is not a viable option then they must spell out an alternative if the UK is to meet its carbon emission reduction targets."

Send a written submission

The BEIS Committee invites written submissions on the following questions:

  • How essential is CCUS for the UK to meet its carbon emission reduction targets to 2050?
  • How should the Government set targets for cost reduction in CCUS?  How could CCUS costs be usefully benchmarked?
  • What would be a realistic level of cost reduction to aim for – and by when?
  • If CCUS costs do not come down “sufficiently”, what alternatives should the Government consider to meet the UK's climate change targets?  How might the cost of these compare with CCUS?

Send a written submission the inquiry on carbon capture, usage and storage.

The deadline for submissions is 26 August 2018.

The BEIS Committee's new inquiry on carbon capture follows earlier Committee work on the Government's Clean Growth Strategy. The Clean Growth Strategy sets out the Government's aim to “deploy CCUS at scale during the 2030s, subject to costs coming down sufficiently”.  The Government has established a CCUS Cost Challenge Taskforce to explore options to bring forward cost reductions, which will report in summer 2018. 

Further information

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