UK invests 200 million pounds into Acorn Carbon Capture Project in Scotland

The government announced on Thursday that Britain would invest 200 million pounds (about $272 million) into the Acorn Carbon Capture and Storage project in Scotland. This is a continuation of the funding for this technology, which was revealed in a review of spending on Wednesday.

Britain has set a target of achieving net zero emissions in 2050. CCS is needed to reduce emissions from industrial sectors that are energy intensive.

Acorn is being developed in St Fergus by Storegga UK, Harbour Energy, North Sea Midstream Partners and Shell UK. It will capture and store carbon dioxide emissions from industries under the North Sea.

Tim Stedman CEO of Storegga said that the support would enable critical work to be done in order to reach the Final Investment Decision. This is a significant step forward for Acorn and for the development of Scotland’s CCS infrastructure as well as the growth of the UK-wide industry for carbon capture and storage.

The government announced that it would also support the Viking CCS Project in the Humber Region, which is located in northern England, but did not specify how much money it would receive.

Ed Miliband said that the funding would support industrial renewal, creating thousands of high-skilled, well-paid jobs in Scotland and Humber to help build Britain's future clean energy.

The government stated that once the projects are operational, they could capture as much as 18 million tonnes carbon dioxide per year.

The funding comes from the 9.4 billion pounds that the government has pledged for carbon capture technology during the review period, and the 21.7 million pounds it said last year would be spent over 25 years. $1 = 0.7352 pounds (Reporting and editing by Alex Richardson; Susanna Twidale)

(source: Reuters)