North-East Carbon Capture Plans Need UK Government To Up Its Game
>> 17 June 2022
Peterhead SNP councillors Stephen Smith and Leeann McWhinnie have called for the UK Government to significantly up its game on plans for the North-East’s carbon capture and storage project.
The call follows confirmation that 2 new seabed sites for storing captured carbon have been licensed off the North-East coast.
The SNP councillors have urged the UK Government to prioritise funding carbon capture in North-east Scotland.
Carbon capture and utilisation storage (CCUS) sites in Scotland have been repeatedly sidelined by the UK Government after it reneged on a promise to fund a site in Peterhead in 2015, and St Fergus in 2021.
Commenting, Peterhead South and Cruden SNP councillor Stephen Smith said:
“The allocation of these two new sites offshore is welcome but we need the UK Government significantly upping its game on carbon capture.
“The Buchan area has been badly let-down in the past with broken promises following 2014’s referendum and again in 2021. It’s time to give this project the priority it deserves for the sake of the environment and the economy and the UK Government needs to stop playing politics with it.”
“The Buchan area has been badly let-down in the past with broken promises following 2014’s referendum and again in 2021. It’s time to give this project the priority it deserves for the sake of the environment and the economy and the UK Government needs to stop playing politics with it.”
“The Scottish Government announced £80million for the North-east CCUS project but, despite being promised £1 billion in the Conservatives’ 2015 manifesto, that promise has been broken not once, but twice.
“Unfortunately, we’re tied to having to wait for Westminster to act on this. It would be so much different with control over our own affairs.”
“Unfortunately, we’re tied to having to wait for Westminster to act on this. It would be so much different with control over our own affairs.”
