UK issues its first carbon storage licenses – September 15, 2023 at 9:20pm

(Allianz News) – The United Kingdom announced on Friday that it had issued 21 carbon savings permits, part of the first round of licensing for a still mostly experimental technology that the government hopes will help it achieve its “net zero” goal.

A total of 14 companies have received 21 licenses to exploit oil and gas reservoirs and saltwater aquifers covering an area of ​​12,000 square kilometers, the North Sea Transition Authority said in a statement.

The agency regulates and influences the oil, gas and carbon storage industries.

These sites could save up to 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year by 2030, or up to 10% of the UK’s annual emissions of 341.5 million tonnes in 2021.

Shell plc, Berenco and Eni Spa are among the companies that have received permits for sites off the Norfolk coast in eastern England.

Other sites are being considered outside Aberdeen, Scotland and Liverpool on England’s northwest coast.

“Carbon storage plays an important role in the energy transition, storing carbon dioxide deep in the ocean floor and playing a key role in hydrogen production and power plants,” said NSTA’s Director General Stuart Payne.

However, many experts and environmental groups question the extent to which the government plans to rely on the still largely unproven and expensive technology.

“CCS (carbon capture and storage) is expensive, and it’s proven that oil companies are not going it alone, asking the government to co-finance all these projects,” co-founder and director Eric Dalhuizen told AFP. Aberdeen Climate Action CIC Association.

“It’s already very, very, very cheap not to emit this gas,” he said, adding that the technology is “not sure it’s going to work.”

Source: AFP

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