Proactive Investors - Britain's strong oil and gas heritage means it is capable of becoming Europe’s largest market for carbon storage, a report has found.
Depleted oil and gas reserves around the UK offer some 78 billion tonnes worth of storage potential, industry body Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) said on Friday.
Filling these with captured carbon would lock up the equivalent of 200 years worth of emissions from the UK, it added.
OEUK said the figures came ahead of final investment decisions on the UK’s Track-1 carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) clusters.
Situated in the northwest and on the east coast, approval would see carbon capture technology fitted at the likes of Teesside and Humber-based industrial sites for emissions to be stored in depleted subsea oil and gas wells.
“There is no viable alternative to CCUS for decarbonising several energy-intensive industries, such as cement manufacturing,” OEUK policy head Enrique Cornejo said.
“To put this in perspective, if cement production were a nation, it would be the third-largest emitter in the world.”
According to OEUK, the carbon capture sector could create 50,000 new jobs and protect a further 100,000 across UK industry, creating a supply chain worth £100 billion by 2050.
The group called for the likes of further government support on funding for the sector, alongside removal of regulatory barriers around international carbon transportation.
Carbon capture could also support plans to decarbonise energy generation, OEUK said, allowing stable generators to continue operating alongside renewables.
“Low carbon power generation must come from reliable supplies that can be easily called upon when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine,” Cornejo added.