The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has published its Seventh Carbon Budget advice!
The CCC state that they “cannot see a route to Net Zero that does not include CCS” and recommend a limit on the UK’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the period 2038 to 2042 of 535 MtCO₂e.
The CCSA welcomes the ambitious target. However, CCUS ambition, particularly near-term for low-carbon hydrogen, industrials and low-carbon dispatchable power appear conservative.
It is important that the Government maintains momentum to deploy CCUS now across our industrial heartlands in order to decarbonise industry and deliver clean power. We do not have time to wait until further down the line.
Read CEO Olivia Powis’ statement below:
“The CCSA welcomes the ambitious emission targets set by the Climate Change Committee (CCC) today. Achieving this carbon budget—while ensuring an affordable and secure energy system—requires swift and decisive government action to deploy critical technologies like Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) now.”
“We are pleased that the CCC reaffirms CCUS as a vital enabler across multiple sectors, underpinning pathways for clean power generation, low-carbon fuel production, industrial decarbonisation, and carbon removals. As the CCC states, there is no route to net zero without CCUS.”
“However, we believe today’s CCUS targets, including those for low-carbon dispatchable power and carbon removals, are conservative. The government must set bold, upfront targets to accelerate industrial decarbonisation and clean power. To maintain momentum, it must urgently commit to deploying already-selected CCUS projects across the UK’s industrial heartlands, along with the wider project pipeline. Failure to act now risks leaving us open to further extreme weather events and the costs of dealing with climate change, as well as losing ground and opportunity in the global race to net zero.”