Acorn carbon capture project to get £200m, Miliband confirms

UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has confirmed that £200m will be provided to progress the Acorn Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) scheme in Aberdeenshire.
Miliband - who has been visiting the St Fergus gas terminal where the project will be based - said he had told the company behind the project that he expected it to make a final investment decision by the end of the parliament.
He said he wanted to see significant progress "by the turn of the decade" but would not commit to a firm timetable.
Environmental group Friends of the Earth, which is sceptical about carbon capture, said the "scarce public money" would only directly benefit "greedy oil and gas companies".
The investment in the Acorn Project comes as part of the UK government's spending review which will increase Holyrood's budget by £2.9bn a year on average.
As part of his announcement, Miliband added that a Scottish Labour government would deliver new nuclear power in Scotland.
Acorn has said its project will safeguard about 18,000 jobs that would otherwise have been lost, including jobs at Grangemouth.
CO2 captured at Grangemouth will be transported to storage facilities under the North Sea, avoiding its release into the atmosphere.
The jobs will be needed to build pipelines to transport the CO2 safely and generate low-carbon power to homes and businesses.
The UK government is providing similar funding for the Viking carbon capture project in the Humber.
Miliband said: "This government is putting its money where its mouth is and backing the trailblazing Acorn and Viking CCS projects.
"This will support industrial renewal in Scotland and the Humber with thousands of highly-skilled jobs at good wages to build Britain's clean energy future.
"Carbon capture will make working people in Britain's hard-working communities better off, breathing new life into their towns and cities and reindustrialising the country through our Plan for Change."
Scotland to get extra £2.9bn from spending review, says Treasury
Acorn Project funding to be announced in spending review
Tim Stedman, chief executive of Storegga, lead developer of Acorn, said: "We warmly welcome the UK government's support for the Acorn project and the commitment to development funding that will enable the critical work needed to reach Final Investment Decision (FID)."
He said the funding announcement was a "milestone" and was on top of significant private sector investment.
"We look forward to working with government in the months ahead to understand the details of today's commitment, and to ensure the policy, regulatory and funding frameworks are in place to build and grow a world-leading UK CCS sector," he added.
Once Acorn and Viking are operational, combined, it has been claimed they could prevent up to 18 million tonnes of CO2 being released into the atmosphere each year.
Those involved in the CCS schemes say they can also play a role in low-carbon power and hydrogen production, supporting thousands of jobs.
Dr Liz Cameron, chief executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said: "The government's backing for the Acorn Project is a significant endorsement which will help to make the north east a world leader in the low-carbon industry.
"This major carbon capture and storage facility puts us on an ecologically more sustainable trajectory and will bolster the region's economy by creating up to 15,000 jobs in construction and attracting billions in private investment.
"Whilst this intervention is undoubtedly welcome, we urge both the UK and Scottish governments to work in collaboration to realise Acorn's potential in full."
Caroline Rance, head of campaigns at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: "This is an enormous handout of supposedly scarce public money that will only directly benefit greedy oil and gas companies.
"Politicians are paying hundreds of millions to keep us locked into an unaffordable energy system which is reliant on fossil fuels and is destroying the climate.
"Carbon capture technology has 50 years of failure behind it, so businesses, workers and the public are being sold a lie about its role in their future."
She said building new fossil fuel infrastructure would undermine the energy transition and embolden oil firms to continue drilling in the North Sea.
"Both the UK and Scottish governments should instead be backing climate solutions that can improve people's lives such as upgrading public transport, ensuring people live in warm homes and creating green jobs for the long-term," she added.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Yahoo

3 hours ago

• Yahoo

French Senate backs law to regulate ultra fast fashion giants Shein and Temu

The French Senate overwhelmingly backed a new bill designed to regulate low-cost clothing giants on Tuesday, mainly targeting Chinese e-commerce platforms Shein and Temu. The text aims to tackle the environmental and economic consequences of fast fashion, a model that thrives on mass production and low prices. The legislation introduces an eco-score system that will evaluate the environmental impact of products sold by fast fashion companies, including emissions, resource use, and recyclability. Brands with the lowest scores could be taxed up to €5 per item starting in 2025, increasing to €10 by 2030. However, the tax cannot exceed 50% of the item's retail price. It also includes a ban on advertising for ultra-fast fashion brands and sanctions for influencers who promote them online. While the bill takes aim at ultra-fast fashion platforms like Shein and Temu, it notably spares major European players such as Zara, H&M, and Kiabi from the harshest penalties. Environmental groups have criticised the revised bill for what they see as a weakened ambition. 'It's a missed opportunity,' said Pierre Condamine, campaign manager at Friends of the Earth France. 'We've got a text that's going to target two brands and therefore leave out what represents at least 90% of production and clothing sold in France. So it's a missed opportunity. We could have a real environmental ambition. We are very disappointed because, in the end, we can see that it's economic protection that has become the major driving force behind this bill. In contrast, at its beginning, there was an ambition to move the sector towards more sustainable practices," he told Euronews. But some French lawmakers argue the bill needs to protect European industries first. 'Unfortunately, we have no choice,' said conservative Senator Sylvie Valente Le Hir. 'Today, we still have to defend what's left of our European industries. We have to make a distinction between the production that's done in China by these giants. We're talking about scales that are 100 times larger than us. So we're preserving European and French industries for the time being, because if we don't, there will be nothing left," she told Euronews. Shein spokesperson Quentin Ruffat responded to the bill earlier this week, warning that the text could "impact the purchasing power" of French consumers. Between 2010 and 2023, the value of advertised fast fashion products in France rose from €2.3 billion to €3.2 billion. In France, 35 clothing items are discarded every second, according to the country's environment agency Ademe. The Senate passed the bill with 337 votes in favour and only one against. The text will now move to a joint committee of senators and deputies in September. The European Commission will also need to be notified to ensure the bill complies with EU regulations. If passed, it would mark one of the most aggressive legislative efforts in Europe to address the toll of fast fashion, though its ultimate impact remains to be seen.

Yahoo

19 hours ago

• Yahoo

Two Middle East-related protests to be held in central London on Saturday

Protesters are set to rally at two high-profile demonstrations in central London on Saturday over flaring conflicts in the Middle East, the Metropolitan Police said. A protest organised by groups under the Palestine Coalition banner will gather in Russell Square from 12pm, before marching to Whitehall via Aldwych and the Strand for an assembly outside Downing Street. Former Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and musician Paloma Faith are among those set to give speeches at the assembly. Meanwhile, a static counter-protest organised by pro-Israeli group Stop The Hate will be held at the same time just north of Waterloo Bridge at the junction with the Strand. The group said it would meet at the location from 12.30pm onwards. Police have set out conditions for the first protest under the Public Order Act which demands that any person taking part in the procession must remain within Russell Square ahead of the protest and must not deviate from its specified route. Demonstrators must then stay in a specified part of Whitehall for the assembly, which must finish by 5.30pm, the force said. The Palestine Coalition is comprised of a number of different groups, including the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and Stop The War. Stop The War said in an advertisement for the event on its website: 'Israel's attacks on Gaza and the West Bank are intensifying. Their starvation policy continues. And now Israel attacks on Iran seem intended to lead us into a full-scale war in the Middle East. 'The UK Government has at last accepted that Israel's actions in Gaza are unconscionable. Now they must act – words are not enough.' Discussions are ongoing regarding possible conditions for the Stop The Hate protest, the Met said. In a post on X, Stop The Hate said: 'Our families in Israel are under attack: standing bravely in the face of threats and ballistic missiles, whilst the people of Iran are bravely facing down their totalitarian government — now it's our turn to stand proudly in solidarity with them.' The demonstrations come after reports on Friday that the Home Secretary will ban Palestine Action after the group vandalised two aircraft at RAF Brize Norton. Yvette Cooper has decided to proscribe the group, making it a criminal offence to belong to or support Palestine Action, after footage posted online showed two people inside the RAF base, with one appearing to spray paint into an aircraft's jet engine. PSC described the move on social media as 'outrageous', while the Campaign Against Antisemitism welcomed the news, saying: 'Nobody should be surprised that those who vandalised Jewish premises with impunity have now been emboldened to sabotage RAF jets.'

Bloomberg

a day ago

• Bloomberg

Allegra Stratton: The UK's Next Power Play is Electricity

I'm just back from another work trip to Shetland, where over the years I've watched the onshore Viking windfarm get built. These days I often see those 103 turbines in action. However, on some days I also see — even when it's gusty — many of those 103 turbines not in action. Of course, that does not go down well with my Shetland friends. It's hard not to think of Viking, one of the UK's largest onshore windfarms, when reading briefing today that the industrial strategy due to be announced next week by the government will include commitments to support Britain's key industries by lowering their energy bills.