{"id":365855,"date":"2025-02-12T09:13:21","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T08:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=365855"},"modified":"2025-02-12T09:13:23","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T08:13:23","slug":"pac-slam-milibands-carbon-capture-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=365855","title":{"rendered":"PAC Slam Miliband\u2019s Carbon Capture\u00a0Plans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Paul Homewood<\/p>\n\n\n\n

h\/t Dennis Ambler<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Committee of Public Accounts has slammed Miliband\u2019s decision to waste \u00a322 billion on unproven carbon capture<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While lessons learned from past failures in introducing technology, PAC report warns Govt has not assessed likely impact on consumer energy bills of carbon capture programme.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Government\u2019s backing of unproven, first-of-a-kind technology to reach net zero is high-risk. In a report published today, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) calls on Government to assess whether its full carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) programme will be affordable for taxpayers and consumers, given wider pressures on energy bills and the cost of living.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CCUS sees the capture and storage underground of carbon before it is released into the atmosphere and is viewed by the Government as essential to its legally mandated net zero by 2050 goals. There are no examples of CCUS technology operating at scale in the UK. The PAC\u2019s inquiry heard that CCUS may not capture as much carbon as expected, with international examples showing that Government\u2019s expectations for its performance are far from guaranteed. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report notes recent scientific evidence that producing liquid natural gas, which will be used to run several CCUS projects, leaks more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than previously thought. This could undermine the rationale for pursuing certain schemes, and the PAC calls on Government to consider the impact of up-to-date scientific understanding on CCUS.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report finds that Government has learnt from previous failed attempts to support CCUS, with the first two projects expected to begin operating in 2028.  It notes that three-quarters of the almost-\u00a322bn envisaged to support the projects will come from levies on consumers who are already facing some of the highest energy bills in the world. But the report finds the Government has not yet looked at the likely financial impact of CCUS on households.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PAC\u2019s inquiry further found that neither of the contracts for the two new CCUS projects include any provision for the Government to share the profits or for consumers to benefit from lower energy bills should things go well. This is despite any such profits, which could be significant if the programme is successful, being a result of early public support. The report calls on Government to introduce mechanisms to make sure taxpayers and consumers benefit financially from the success of all future CCUS projects that they have supported. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Government downgraded its ambitions for CCUS in 2024, with a target of storing 20 to 30 million tonnes per year of CO2 by 2030 now seen as no longer achievable. No revised targets have yet been announced. The PAC\u2019s report notes that this creates a shortfall in Government\u2019s pathway to net zero, with the now-abandoned targets leaving it unclear how the Government will meet its legally binding goals. The PAC\u2019s report calls for new targets to be set out as a matter of urgency.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/committees.parliament.uk\/committee\/127\/public-accounts-committee\/news\/205139\/carbon-capture-high-degree-of-uncertainty-whether-risky-investment-by-govt-will-pay-off<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The language is diplomatic, as is usual with a Parliamentary Committee which needs to produce a consensus opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But make no mistake, this is a damning report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First of all, there is no getting away from the fact that this mad policy will cost every household in the country over \u00a3800, for no tangible benefit to them. The cost will certainly end up much higher, as CfDs will be index linked, and projects like these have a habit of costing the government more than planned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carbon capture is, by definition, a pointless and wasteful process. Why make electricity from natural gas, and then waste part of that energy at great cost in order to take carbon dioxide out of it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PAC sums the issue up nicely:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCCUS sees the capture and storage underground of carbon before it is released into the atmosphere and is viewed by the Government as essential to its legally mandated net zero by 2050 goals\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a sane world, you would change the law, not waste \u00a322 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the problems with CCUS go much deeper than cost issues. Nobody in the world has found a way to strip out all of the carbon dioxide \u2013 indeed Miliband\u2019s schemes will be lucky to take out half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On top of those remaining emissions are the ones upstream, particularly if LNG is used, as the PAC points out. There are always emissions at the well head, followed by a lot more involved with the liquifying and shipping operations. And as CCUS uses more natural gas than a normal CCGT, these upstream emissions are multiplied further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In reality, emissions from a conventional CCGT using North Sea gas will probably be lower than using LNG in a CCUS plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, at the heart of this lies the fact that Miliband is desperate for every bit of dispatchable power he can get his hands on, regardless of the cost, practicability or amount of CO2 saved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While lessons learned from past failures in introducing technology, PAC report warns Govt has not assessed likely impact on consumer energy bills of carbon capture programme.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":365859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691826940,691829997,691833256,691831484,691818154,691833255],"class_list":{"0":"post-365855","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-carbon-capture","9":"tag-carbon-dioxide-co","10":"tag-committee-of-public-accounts","11":"tag-energy-secretary-ed-miliband","12":"tag-net-zero","13":"tag-usage-and-storage-ccus","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0Screenshot-2025-02-12-091225.png?fit=1280%2C854&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1xaT","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":354961,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=354961","url_meta":{"origin":365855,"position":0},"title":"Mad Miliband\u2019s Carbon Capture Will Be Funded from Energy\u00a0Bills","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"17\/12\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"As we guessed, it appears that most of Ed Miliband\u2019s \u00a321 billion bung to carbon capture projects will end up being paid for through our energy bills.","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon capture projects\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon capture projects","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-capture-projects"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0Screenshot-2024-12-17-185210.png?fit=1200%2C798&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0Screenshot-2024-12-17-185210.png?fit=1200%2C798&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0Screenshot-2024-12-17-185210.png?fit=1200%2C798&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0Screenshot-2024-12-17-185210.png?fit=1200%2C798&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0Screenshot-2024-12-17-185210.png?fit=1200%2C798&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":363716,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=363716","url_meta":{"origin":365855,"position":1},"title":"Carbon Capture a Waste of Money, Says Octopus\u00a0Boss","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"28\/01\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Greg Jackson, boss of Octopus, thinks Miliband\u2019s \u00a322 billion bung is a waste of money, and should be spent building more wind farms instead.","rel":"","context":"In \"Carbon capture and storage\"","block_context":{"text":"Carbon capture and storage","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-capture-and-storage"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Carbon-Capture-and-Storage-aither-scaled-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Carbon-Capture-and-Storage-aither-scaled-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Carbon-Capture-and-Storage-aither-scaled-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Carbon-Capture-and-Storage-aither-scaled-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Carbon-Capture-and-Storage-aither-scaled-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":376713,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=376713","url_meta":{"origin":365855,"position":2},"title":"PAC Slam Biomass Sector For Marking Own\u00a0Homework","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"28\/04\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has just released a devastating indictment of UK Government policies regarding the burning of wooden pellets at Drax and other biomass plants.","rel":"","context":"In \"biomass\"","block_context":{"text":"biomass","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=biomass"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0Ed-Miliband-vor-dem-Feuer.png?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0Ed-Miliband-vor-dem-Feuer.png?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0Ed-Miliband-vor-dem-Feuer.png?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0Ed-Miliband-vor-dem-Feuer.png?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":372653,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=372653","url_meta":{"origin":365855,"position":3},"title":"Taxpayers To Foot the Bill If Risky Carbon Capture Projects Go Tits\u00a0Up","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"29\/03\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Ed Miliband has been forced to set aside \u00a38 billion to cover the risk of a carbon capture disaster as the costs of net zero stack up.","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon capture and storage (CCS)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon capture and storage (CCS)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-capture-and-storage-ccs"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0Bioenergy-with-Carbon-Capture-and-Sequestration-BECCS.png?fit=1200%2C532&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0Bioenergy-with-Carbon-Capture-and-Sequestration-BECCS.png?fit=1200%2C532&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0Bioenergy-with-Carbon-Capture-and-Sequestration-BECCS.png?fit=1200%2C532&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0Bioenergy-with-Carbon-Capture-and-Sequestration-BECCS.png?fit=1200%2C532&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0Bioenergy-with-Carbon-Capture-and-Sequestration-BECCS.png?fit=1200%2C532&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":393545,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=393545","url_meta":{"origin":365855,"position":4},"title":"More Subsidies Announced For Carbon\u00a0Capture","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/08\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"No costs have been disclosed yet, but these two schemes will be subsidized out of Ed Miliband\u2019s \u00a322 billion carbon capture fund, announced last year.","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon capture and storage (CCS)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon capture and storage (CCS)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-capture-and-storage-ccs"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0AQM-SESfwwL0AB_Zrrap3beXuCDEX_gn0OiL2PVdbQmafBA94I6NIB1LKQgOF3VqgZN0FxoZkKNd-4NO6ojQTlTD8_FA9yqTJZcEjIAipe2wQKRKsndVzrX8qHQ3Lm7KjtwsFgdobEFhLE3DKiK5YuhbwzwarQ-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0AQM-SESfwwL0AB_Zrrap3beXuCDEX_gn0OiL2PVdbQmafBA94I6NIB1LKQgOF3VqgZN0FxoZkKNd-4NO6ojQTlTD8_FA9yqTJZcEjIAipe2wQKRKsndVzrX8qHQ3Lm7KjtwsFgdobEFhLE3DKiK5YuhbwzwarQ-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0AQM-SESfwwL0AB_Zrrap3beXuCDEX_gn0OiL2PVdbQmafBA94I6NIB1LKQgOF3VqgZN0FxoZkKNd-4NO6ojQTlTD8_FA9yqTJZcEjIAipe2wQKRKsndVzrX8qHQ3Lm7KjtwsFgdobEFhLE3DKiK5YuhbwzwarQ-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0AQM-SESfwwL0AB_Zrrap3beXuCDEX_gn0OiL2PVdbQmafBA94I6NIB1LKQgOF3VqgZN0FxoZkKNd-4NO6ojQTlTD8_FA9yqTJZcEjIAipe2wQKRKsndVzrX8qHQ3Lm7KjtwsFgdobEFhLE3DKiK5YuhbwzwarQ-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0AQM-SESfwwL0AB_Zrrap3beXuCDEX_gn0OiL2PVdbQmafBA94I6NIB1LKQgOF3VqgZN0FxoZkKNd-4NO6ojQTlTD8_FA9yqTJZcEjIAipe2wQKRKsndVzrX8qHQ3Lm7KjtwsFgdobEFhLE3DKiK5YuhbwzwarQ-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":416446,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=416446","url_meta":{"origin":365855,"position":5},"title":"Scotland\u2019s key carbon capture project faces collapse in new blow to\u00a0Miliband","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/12\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"TRANSLATION \u2013 It is all too risky, and we don\u2019t think we can make money out of it.","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon capture and storage (CCS)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon capture and storage (CCS)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-capture-and-storage-ccs"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0AQOWI09DYnz6Spgumh2fdhiXO5rtdGTEJ9JvPM-J4VaBa2sAH4iF9bCC3J9LAFmlKwnBx9Q3BWuEuLziWhDs-RytaDhGAd1C7ugf46isks_Q3rD7V76uqt809uJWJ0Of.jpeg?fit=1200%2C681&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0AQOWI09DYnz6Spgumh2fdhiXO5rtdGTEJ9JvPM-J4VaBa2sAH4iF9bCC3J9LAFmlKwnBx9Q3BWuEuLziWhDs-RytaDhGAd1C7ugf46isks_Q3rD7V76uqt809uJWJ0Of.jpeg?fit=1200%2C681&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0AQOWI09DYnz6Spgumh2fdhiXO5rtdGTEJ9JvPM-J4VaBa2sAH4iF9bCC3J9LAFmlKwnBx9Q3BWuEuLziWhDs-RytaDhGAd1C7ugf46isks_Q3rD7V76uqt809uJWJ0Of.jpeg?fit=1200%2C681&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0AQOWI09DYnz6Spgumh2fdhiXO5rtdGTEJ9JvPM-J4VaBa2sAH4iF9bCC3J9LAFmlKwnBx9Q3BWuEuLziWhDs-RytaDhGAd1C7ugf46isks_Q3rD7V76uqt809uJWJ0Of.jpeg?fit=1200%2C681&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0AQOWI09DYnz6Spgumh2fdhiXO5rtdGTEJ9JvPM-J4VaBa2sAH4iF9bCC3J9LAFmlKwnBx9Q3BWuEuLziWhDs-RytaDhGAd1C7ugf46isks_Q3rD7V76uqt809uJWJ0Of.jpeg?fit=1200%2C681&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=365855"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":365860,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365855\/revisions\/365860"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/365859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=365855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=365855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=365855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}