More than half of MSPs urge Chancellor to back major carbon capture project
'It has been encouraging to see funding certainty for the HyNet and East Coast Clusters in recent weeks. But a balanced pathway toward a decarbonised future requires more CCS than just these two projects – and must put Acorn on the road to delivery.
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Scotsman
2 days ago
- Scotsman
Mighty growth from Scotland's carbon capture Acorn could prove elusive
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Industry leaders will meet at the Offshore Energies UK conference in Aberdeen next week in the face of growing opposition towards the pace of the 'just transition' away from fossil fuels. It seems barely a day goes by without another nail being hammered in the coffin of British industry, with the soaring cost of energy invariably the common denominator. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Last week, 400 workers at bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis were told their jobs are at risk. It is a further blow to the Falkirk area after a similar number of redundancies caused by the recent closure of Grangemouth oil refinery. The oil refinery at Grangemouth has now closed | PA Labour has accused the Scottish Government of exacerbating the site's difficulties by ordering buses from coal-powered China, which can produce them far cheaper than we can - along with wind turbines, solar panels and pretty much everything else. Earlier this month, researchers at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen forecast there could be 400 job losses a fortnight in the North Sea oil and gas sector until the early 2030s. And it is fair to say far more jobs are being lost in oil and gas, chemicals, steel, the auto industry and manufacturing in general than are being created in wind and solar. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The drive towards heavily subsidised, unreliable, low density 'renewables', which need to be backed up with reliable energy, has also been blamed for throwing Britain's grid off balance, greater dependence on imported power, a countryside increasingly scarred by turbines and pylons, and energy costs that are four or five times higher than in countries such as the US. An inconvenient truth The green energy jobs bonanza that politicians of all stripes have been promising for decades has failed to materialise. Confronted with this inconvenient truth, green energy enthusiasts have in recent years been reduced to mouthing vague bromides about batteries and hydrogen contingent upon scientific breakthroughs that, like all those green jobs, are just around the corner, or over the next hill. Chancellor Rachel Reeves put some wind in their sails with the announcement in her Spending Review this month of £200 million for the Acorn carbon capture and storage project at St Fergus in Aberdeenshire. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband on a visit to St Fergus in Aberdeenshire to welcome funding for the Acorn project confirmed in the Spending Review | PA Writing in this newspaper ahead of next week's conference, OEUK chief executive David Whitehouse explained: 'Acorn will capture carbon from high-emission sectors like glass, cement and power generation, compress it, and store it deep beneath the North Sea in depleted oil and gas reservoirs. A repurposed network of more than 200 miles of pipeline will transport these emissions for storage.' This exercise, according to Whitehouse, will support around 10,800 construction jobs and create up to 4,700 long-term roles. But critics question whether carbon capture and storage has been proven successful on such a scale. And a growing number of politicians are backing away from the full-throated commitment to the uncompromising environmental ambitions advocated by the likes of Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The green blob may wince each time Reform UK's deputy leader Richard Tice utters his well-worn 'net stupid zero' jibe, but a growing section of the population appears to share his dim view of the entire project. The UK's 2050 target was passed into law under the Tories, in the dying days of Theresa May's government, and the agenda continued under her successor Boris Johnson. But current Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has declared net zero by 2050 'impossible' and called for an end to the 'windfall tax' on oil and gas profits deterring North Sea investment. Politicians 'got it wrong', claims Findlay Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay said at the weekend his party 'got it wrong' in 2019 when it backed the SNP's even more ambitious, attention-seeking and non-legally binding 2045 target. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He also suggested that, whether they cared to admit it or not, his political opponents knew they had got it wrong too. Findlay said: 'The situation has become clearer ... to everybody in the Scottish Parliament, if they were being honest. Both Labour, the SNP and the rest of them would admit that the 2045 target isn't just unaffordable, it's unachievable – that's the reality.' Scottish Conservatives leader Russell Findlay welcomes Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch to the stage at the Scottish Conservative party conference at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh last week | PA The unease is growing on the left and among trade unions too. Labour MP Henry Tufnell broke party ranks last week to demand the jobs of oil and gas workers in his Pembrokeshire constituency are not lost in the push for ever-more wind and solar. According to a poll earlier this month, commissioned by the Looking For Growth movement, more voters than not now believe net zero-inspired government policies have damaged their living standards. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The Wall Street Journal reports companies in various industries are removing climate change and net zero language from their reports. The head of the CBI, Rain Newton-Smith, has shifted her organisation's stance by calling for an end to net zero policies that push up energy prices and get in the way of businesses' growth ambitions. 'Gradually, and then suddenly' In Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises, the character Mike is asked how he went bankrupt. 'Gradually, and then suddenly,' he replies. The same can be said about shifts in public opinion. How long might it be before Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, no stranger to U-turns, joins what until recently he might have described as a 'bandwagon of the far right' by conceding that perhaps our energy policies are, to at least some extent, misguided at best? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Maybe there is no harm in hoovering up as much angst-inducing carbon as we can and pumping it underground. We can see how that goes. In any case, the £200m from the Treasury is small potatoes set against perhaps trillions of pounds the net zero agenda will ultimately extract from the economy.
The National
4 days ago
- The National
Scotland's energy revolution must belong to its people
From Peterhead to Fraserburgh, from Buckie to Macduff, I've seen first-hand how energy has shaped my constituency. Generations of workers have kept the energy flowing to the UK from the North Sea basin. And even now, as the conversation rightly shifts toward renewables, as our North Sea basin is depleting, our region still stands at the forefront with world-leading offshore wind, green hydrogen innovation, and carbon capture potential like no other. But here's the hard truth: while Scotland generates the energy, we don't get to control the strategy. Westminster holds the purse strings and sets the rules. And as we saw again this week, that's holding us back. READ MORE: Taxing the rich is never on the agenda when politicians talk about being 'tough' The UK Government's latest announcement on carbon capture, the Acorn project at St Fergus, should be good news. And on the surface, it is. Acorn has the potential to transform our region into a global hub for net-zero innovation. It could create thousands of high-quality jobs, anchor supply chains in the north-east, and help the UK meet its climate targets. But there's a catch. The fine print of the announcement shows it's not the green light many hoped for. Final investment decisions are years away. It's development funding, not delivery. And we've been here before. The Acorn project is not just for carbon capture, but for producing low-carbon hydrogen that could power homes, transport and industry across the UK. There are also early-stage plans for a sustainable aviation fuel plant at the site, which could anchor hundreds of local jobs while turning waste into clean jet fuel. And crucially, St Fergus is set to become a key hub in the proposed UK hydrogen pipeline network. Once again, our country is doing the heavy lifting, and it deserves the power to shape what comes next. Scotland has been waiting patiently, while other carbon capture clusters in England were prioritised ahead of us. Despite our infrastructure being shovel-ready, and our skilled workforce standing by, decisions were delayed. Now, suddenly, we're being told to celebrate the UK finally noticing our potential, but without any real power to shape or accelerate the outcome. Let me be clear, I welcome any investment in our region. But we're no longer in the business of cheering handouts. We are a country that deserves agency, not just announcements. As an MSP representing a coastal constituency, I know what a just transition really means. It's not about cutting off the oil and gas industry overnight. It's not about abandoning communities that have carried the weight of energy production for decades. It's about careful, credible, compassionate planning. It's about looking workers in the eye and saying, you'll be part of what comes next. We need to bring the workforce with us, not leave them wondering where they fit in. That's why I've always supported CCUS (carbon capture, utilisation, and storage) as part of the solution. It bridges today's industry with tomorrow's ambition. It offers continuity as we pivot toward renewables. And crucially, it allows communities like mine to stay rooted in what we do best in leading the way. READ MORE: SNP leadership must bite the bullet on independence or step aside And there's another question I hear time and again from people in my constituency, not just about the future of industry, but about the future of their bills. Because what's the point of being energy-rich if households still feel poor? The reality is Scotland produces more electricity than we consume, and more than 110% of that comes from renewables. Yet families in the north-east are still paying punishing prices while energy companies profit and pricing systems favour the south. That's why recent comments from Octopus Energy's CEO struck such a chord. He said that if the system were properly reformed, people in Scotland living near abundant renewable generation could effectively see free electricity at times. His proposal, for what's called zonal or regional pricing, could lower bills in areas like mine, where clean power is generated and exported to the rest of the UK. In other words, Scots shouldn't just power the nation, but we should benefit from it. Of course, others in the energy sector have raised concerns about the complexity of implementing such a system, and it must be done carefully. But the core idea is sound. And it reveals something deeper, that the current system isn't working for ordinary people, especially in energy-producing communities. That must change. This year offers us all an opportunity to shape the conversation about where Scotland is headed. Energy should be at the heart of that. Not just as a climate issue, or an economic one, but as a democratic one. Who decides what happens to Scotland's resources? Who benefits? Who's accountable? These are the questions we should be asking. Because if we want a future where energy works for people, reducing bills, creating jobs, and protecting the planet, then we need to be honest about what's holding us back. READ MORE: Scottish fishing body accuses David Attenborough of 'propaganda' over new film We have already laid strong foundations. Public investment in clean energy. A just transition fund. Support for hydrogen, offshore wind, and local infrastructure. But time and again, progress is held back by powers that sit elsewhere. Energy strategy, infrastructure funding, pricing systems, taxation – all major levers remain at Westminster. So, let's make sure energy is not just a technical debate for experts behind closed doors. It belongs on the front page. It belongs in living rooms and community halls. It belongs in every conversation about Scotland's future. Because this isn't just about industry. It's about justice, economic, environmental, and democratic. If we want to see the full benefits of our energy wealth, lower bills, secure jobs, and a thriving green economy, then we need more than resources. We need the power to decide how they're used, and a government that fights for Scotland to get its fair share. Until then, we'll keep generating the energy, while others call the shots.
Scotsman
4 days ago
- Scotsman
Pressure on Labour to deliver promised change as spending review ushers in 'new phase' of government
Keir Starmer told his Cabinet in advance that last week's spending review marked the start of a "new phase" for the government, in which it would deliver on its promise of change. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... It was that promise which won Labour a massive Commons majority just under a year ago, bringing a decisive end to 14 years of Tory rule. But one of the new government's first acts, means-testing winter fuel payment for old age pensioners, proved a serious political mistake, alienating millions of voters and drawing accusations of a return to Tory austerity. Rachel Reeves delivering her spending review in the House of Commons | PA Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Chancellor Rachel Reeves has now effectively reversed the policy, restoring winter fuel payments to three quarters of pensioners. And she used the spending review to set out Labour's spending plan for the years ahead. These include billions of pounds to build affordable homes, major investment in public transport projects, a significant boost for the NHS to fund more appointments and an expansion of free school meals. In Scotland, the Chancellor gave the go-ahead for the UK's biggest supercomputer at Edinburgh University, as well as the Acorn carbon capture project in the North East. Ms Reeves points to lower interest rates and higher wages as evidence of an improving economy which allows the increased spending. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But there is also a change of tone, acknowledging the urgency of delivery. She spoke of Britain being renewed, but added: 'I know too many people in too many parts of our country are yet to feel it. The purpose of this spending review is to change that.' Economic experts, however, expect the extra spending will mean higher taxes when the Chancellor delivers her budget in the autumn. Labour promised at the election not to increase income tax, VAT, employees' national insurance or corporation tax. But, as they say, other taxes are available - and some in the Labour party and beyond believe a wealth tax ought to be a serious option to ensure those rich in assets as well as income pay their fair share. In her Commons speech, Ms Reeves rejected austerity and said she was making 'Labour choices'. That's exactly what many of her backbenchers want - and also many of the millions who voted the party into power last summer, looking for a clear move away from the Tories' approach. Now the pressure is on to deliver the promised change.
