50,000 jobs by 2050: UK Government outlines plans to scale up carbon capture sector

Pictured: Ellesmere Port

Published late on Friday (7 May), the policy paper states that the UK will aim to capture and store 10 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030. Should this target be met, and progress continue accelerating between 2030 and 2050, the paper states, some 50,000 jobs could be supported.

The emerging CCUS sector is described in the report as a “great incubator of green jobs” as Ministers seek to get the UK on track to host two million such roles by the end of the decade. It is also described as a sector that can help deliver a “fair and equitable transition” for oil and gas workers who will likely need new roles in the coming years, given that many in the sector will have transferrable skills.

While the report describes itself as a ‘roadmap’, there is little detail on how the Government will support the skills, infrastructure and technologies needed to deliver on 2030 and 2050 targets. It states that a full map of opportunities and challenges, as well as Government supports, will be published later this year. This document will come alongside a ‘Fit for CCUS’ scheme for businesses, designed to help high emitters like oil and gas majors and heavy industrial sites to prepare to adopt the technology.

The document does state that BEIS will work more closely with bodies including the Treasury, the Department for National Trade, the British Business Bank and the National Infrastructure Bank (NIB) to develop the map. Ministers have faced multiple accusations in recent months of failing to work across departments to avoid net-zero loopholes. The NIB is notably entering operation this week, with questions still remaining about its climate remit.

It also reassures readers within the sector that BEIS remains open to supporting CCUS projects it is not currently aware of, through mechanisms such as the dedicated Infrastructure Fund. Announced late last year as part of the Ten Point Plan, the Fund’s remit was updated last week in line with the UK’s adoption of the Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) Sixth Carbon Budget recommendations last month. The paper also expresses the possibility of CCUS being included in future post-Brexit trade deals.

Existing projects, the policy paper states, should identify and advertise potential delivery contractors “as visibly and as early as possible”.

Clusters and dispersed sites

The paper comes after a report commissioned by BEIS, and published last year, concluded that the department is lacking a “comprehensive regulatory framework” to overcome challenges to “dispersed” sites that would be suitable for CCUS but that aren’t located in industrial clusters.

Indeed, the overarching target for CCUS to date has been for the UK to fully decarbonise at least one industrial cluster by 2040. Clusters are seen as less risky locations for deployment as, with dispersed sites, new transportation infrastructure will be needed.

The UK Government has increasingly focused on CCS since setting its legally binding net-zero target. Before then, the previous £1bn competition fund for CCS was actually scrapped by the now-defunct Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

According to the CCC, CCUS is a “non-optional” component of the UK’s transition to net-zero. However, some green groups would like to see Ministers doing more to prioritise technologies that are already mature, alongside nature-based solutions for sequestering carbon, in the short to mid-term.

edie Explains: Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage

What are the different types of CCUS technology? How can businesses benefit from CCUS? And what are the costs associated with CCUS?

edie readers interested in exploring the answers to these and other frequently asked questions about CCUS are encouraged to access the free edie Explains guide on the topic, hosted in association with Carbon Clean. Click here to access the guide. 

Sarah George