The UK's carbon capture and storage (CCS) program, a £264 billion white elephant, is a prime example of how government policy can be shaped by lobbying from the fossil fuel industry. This program, which aims to reduce carbon emissions, is instead set to massively increase them, with the majority of CCS deployment attached to new fossil fuel-burning power stations and hydrogen production from fossil gas. The Climate Change Committee's claim that CCS is essential for cutting carbon emissions is baseless, as its own data shows that only 5-6% of CCS deployment in the UK will be used to address the emissions of industrial sectors such as chemicals and cement. Instead, the program will greatly ramp up fossil fuel use in the electricity sector, leading to higher emissions and higher bills. The program's cost, which will be divided between the public and private sectors, is expected to be borne largely by the public through extra levies on energy bills. The government's commitment to pay a 'premium' for the hydrogen produced by the CCS program for 15 years is uncosted, but could run to tens of billions more. The program's failure is not surprising, given the long record of shiny promises followed by partial or total failures in CCS projects. The lead operator of the government's first CCS cluster is BP, the same company that financed and helped steer the 'Wedges' paper, which greatly oversold CCS as a climate solution. This program, which has been built the wrong way round, is a gigantic, publicly funded reason for the fossil fuel industry to stay in business. The wasted money, the lost years, the lost lives: for how much longer will this farce continue? And how many more warnings will the government ignore? Personally, I think this program is a clear example of how government policy can be shaped by lobbying from the fossil fuel industry, and how this can lead to disastrous outcomes for the environment and public welfare. In my opinion, the government should cancel this program and redirect the funds to renewable energy and battery storage instead. From my perspective, the UK's energy policy should be focused on reducing fossil fuel use in the electricity sector and scaling up renewables and battery storage, which would result in much lower climate impacts and much lower bills. This raises a deeper question: how can we ensure that government policy is not shaped by lobbying from the fossil fuel industry, and how can we redirect funds to more sustainable and effective solutions? A detail that I find especially interesting is the role of the Climate Change Committee in promoting CCS as a climate solution. What this really suggests is that the committee may be influenced by the fossil fuel industry, and that its recommendations may not be in the best interest of the public or the environment. This raises concerns about the independence and integrity of the committee, and the need for greater transparency and accountability in government policy-making.
