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The Scottish Government yesterday published a plan aiming to make the region a world leader in carbon capture and storage (CCS).

The roadmap sets out plans for a number of demonstration projects and how support could be forthcoming from the EU and UK Government.

The Scottish Government also plans to develop a licensing regime for offshore carbon storage and provide the burgeoning industry with the right training and skills.

Already the Government is investing in research projects, including a recent study to identify potential storage sites in the North Sea, and liaising with the EU and UK authorities to lobby for Scottish projects.

The Scottish Government is also developing a regulatory framework for CCS projects and has set up advisory groups in thermal generation and CCS.

Any new coal-fired power stations in the region already have to demonstrate CCS on at least 300 MW of capacity, with those built after 2020 having to achieve CCS 100% of capacity.

“Scotland has all the attributes to become a world leader in carbon capture. The North Sea alone has enough capacity to store emissions from industrial coal-fired plants for the next 200 years,” says Energy Minister Jim Mather.

He adds that the region’s existing oil and gas in- and offshore infrastructure and skills could be utilised to develop an effective CCS industry.

“We now want to see a number of CCS demonstration projects developed in Scotland… [and this plan] takes us further down that road by setting out our ambitions and the actions needed,” he says.

For further information:
www.scotland.gov.uk/Home

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Large-scale OxyCoal CCS project now underway (28-Jul 2009)
Scotland could store hundreds of years’ worth of CO₂ (8-May 2009)
Scotland could lead the way in carbon capture and storage (29-Apr 2009)