Scotland’s bid to lead on CCS ‘vacuous’ say Greens

The First Minister was speaking at Edinburgh Castle at the launch of Opportunities for CO2 Storage Around Scotland, a comprehensive study of carbon capture and storage (CCS) to be undertaken in the UK.

Mr Salmond said: “Our ambition is to become a world leader in reducing harmful emissions and producing clean, green energy as part of our contribution to tackling climate change.

“Today’s publication of this groundbreaking report takes us a significant step closer to realising that ambition.

“This report, a unique collaboration between a range of partners from business, universities and research facilities, signals a milestone in Scotland’s energy policy.

“It is evident from our wealth of natural resources that we have a competitive and comparative advantage both in terms of renewable energy and carbon capture.

“The conclusions of this study underline just how vast Scotland’s potential in CCS is – we have the capacity to capture safely and store emissions from industrial coal-fired plants for the next 200 years.”

However, Scotland’s Greens said the statement ‘overlooked the fact’ the technology isn’t ready to be used.

Patrick Harvie, Green MSP, said: “The First Minister forgets to add that carbon capture isn’t ready for us.

“Nowhere does he admit that carbon capture on this scale exists only on the drawing board.

“It may make an important contribution one day, but it’s a disgrace that Scottish Ministers have already given their backing to new coal-fired power stations before carbon capture and storage has been demonstrated anywhere in the world.

“Building a power plant that’s ‘CCS ready’ is meaningless. Describing Scotland as a ‘CCS ready’ country is equally vacuous.”

Luke Walsh