8 CONCLUSION
163. The available evidence indicates that CCS could
and should make a valuable contribution to reducing CO2
emissions and safeguarding energy security in the UK. It also
appears likely that CCS technology could play a key role in mitigating
CO2 emissions internationally and, more specifically,
from China's and India's ever growing fleet of coal-fired power
stations, providing that it can be deployed sufficiently rapidly.
In order to meet this timescale, the development of CCS technology
needs to be pursued with greater vigour than has been the case
to date. In particular, multiple full scale demonstration projects
are urgently needed and the UK should take advantage of the fact
that it is especially well placed to take a lead in demonstrating
offshore EOR and CO2 storage. The costs of CCS are
comparable with—and have the potential to be lower than—other
low carbon electricity generating techniques. Although renewable
technologies for energy generation will be essential, especially
in the medium to long term, the capacity of CCS to make a large
contribution to reducing CO2 emissions in a short space
of time could make it a very valuable tool for climate change
mitigation.
164. There appear to be no insurmountable regulatory
hurdles to CCS in the UK, although the Government needs to do
its best to accelerate progress towards clarification of the relevant
multinational environmental agreements, as well as putting in
place an appropriate domestic regulatory regime. Capture readiness
should also be made a requirement for statutory licensing of any
new plant, both to facilitate the process of subsequent fitting
of capture technology in the UK and to prove the concept for export
to China and other countries.
165. Given sufficient impetus by the Government,
UK industry could deploy CCS technology in a full scale test by
2009. However, UK industry is awaiting a financial framework and
policy signal from Government to give the initial projects the
go ahead. The Energy Review must provide these.
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